You can’t go on beauty TikTok without seeing an influencer stress the importance of using sunscreen. But a new survey from the American Academy of Dermatology is proving that Gen Zers aren’t as skin conscious as you may have thought.
The study spoke to more than 1,000 Gen Z results. It found that:
- 71% are unaware of the risk associated with sunburn
- 36% admitted to having a sunburn in 2022
- Of that, 41% said the burn was so severe that wearing clothes was uncomfortable
- Almost 60% said they believe old tanning myths like tanning’s healthy and a base tan prevents sunburn
- 20% said that getting a tan’s “more important” to them than preventing skin cancer
- 30% said that a tan’s “worth looking great now even if it means looking worse later in life”
Experts aren’t really shocked by this. "I think it is a commonly repeated trend with each generation: The younger people in their teens and 20s feel invincible and don't think that it 'will happen to them,'" dermatologist and medical director Dr. Jeremy Fenton explains. "They also tend to worry less about things that may happen to them in the distant future. This is in part just normal human nature.”
Source: Yahoo! Life