More than one in four teens and young adults show signs of “tanorexia” or tanning dependence, leaving them craving the sun or a tanning bed in much the same way addicts yearn for alcohol or drugs, a new study shows.
Researchers at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia examined the tanning habits of 400 college students aged 18 to 24, using the same framework that defines substance addictions. They found that 27 per cent showed signs of “tanorexia,” based on answers to questions like “Do you think you need to spend more and more time in the sun to maintain your perfect tan?” and “Does this (your belief that tanning can cause skin cancer) keep you from spending time in the sun or going to tanning beds?”
“I don’t know that the public at large really thinks that tanning could be addictive and if they thought that, then people might be less likely to tan and especially concerned about young people,” said Carolyn Heckman, author of the study and an associate member of the cancer centre.
Current smokers are more likely to be addicted to tanning than those who have never smoked, she found, and obese people are less likely to be tan-dependent than those of normal or below-average weight. The mean age at which participants said they first visited a tanning bed was just over 17 years old, and the mean number of visits over their lifetime was about 57, which means half went more frequently and half less.
“People value attractiveness and they’re willing to take health risks to be attractive, especially since the health risks may not show up for 20 or 30 years,” Heckman said. “They want to look good now.”
Almost half of young Canadian women aged 16 to 24 (49 per cent) and over a quarter of young men the same age (28 per cent) say they actively try to get a tan from the sun, according to a survey released by the Canadian Cancer Society in July. The agency is promoting the World Heath Organization’s stance that tanning beds should be banned for people under age 18, says Heather Chappell, senior manager of cancer control.
“The younger age group we know is the most difficult to reach,” she said. “We need to continue to try to ‘de-normalize’ a tan and (the idea) that a tan is healthy. It’s not necessarily a healthy thing because a tan indicates you have been out exposing yourself to UV.”
But tanning addiction may literally run more than skin deep, Heckman says. Researchers hypothesize that tanning may release endorphins in the brain, she says, potentially bringing on a feeling of well-being similar to the “runner’s high” people get after exercising.
“Tanning may feel relaxing or people might have seasonal affective disorder in the winter and they like to indoor tan to help their mood,” she said. “So those are possibilities of why people might want to tan besides appearance.”