Why tanning trends popular on social media might be risky for young skin
⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️
- A recent study shows that as kids get older they practise less sun safety.
- This means more tans and sunburns are happening and experts say that’s not good for young skin.
- From online influencers to friends, some young people say they feel the pressure to tan.
- Despite the pressure, two teens in Canada say staying sun-safe is important to them.
- Keep reading to hear teen and expert tips on staying safe in the sun. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
With summer in full swing, you might be headed outside seeking some sun.
But if you’re thinking about leaving your sunscreen behind, you might want to reconsider.
Just ask 15-year-old Jasmine Bhathena from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
She went to a Halifax Wanderers soccer game last year and took home more than a win.
She wanted to try tanning and ended up with a sunburn instead.
“Any sunburn prior to the age of 18 will increase the risk of skin cancer by 30 per cent,” — Elena Netchiporouk, McGill University Health Centre
Thinking back to that day, Jasmine recalled that she could “feel the sun on my skin. It sort of burned and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is probably what a tan feels like, I’ve never done it before,’” she told CBC Kids News in an interview.
Lots of kids like Jasmine are feeling the pressure to tan due to social media and peers, but experts warn it could have impacts far beyond the trend.
How kids are pressured to tan
On social media, teens see influencers hyping up their “perfect tan lines,” said Jasmine.
In Toronto, Ontario, 16-year-old Sabine Scurfield says she feels the pressure, too.
After getting a bad sunburn last summer, Jasmine now is more careful when she’s out in the sun. (Image submitted by Jasmine Bhathena)
“I think tanning is also a very social thing,” she said.
“If you go to a pool party there’s a lot of tanning happening and it is kind of awkward to be, like, the one in the shade.”
But Sabine prefers the shade and sticks with sunscreen as part of her daily self-care regime.
Experts suggest putting on a golf ball-sized amount of sunscreen to fully cover your body every two hours on all exposed skin and encouraging your friends to also be sun-safe. (Image credit: Kurt Desplenter/Getty Images)
For her, it’s personal.
Her grandfather died from skin cancer and other family members have been affected by the disease.
So she’s aware of the sun’s impacts.
“I think there’s this whole kind of push for teenagers to be tan, she said, adding that “skin cancer is not cute.”
Next year, during her school’s spring fling event, Sabine will host a sunscreen booth for her peers — giving out sunscreen and teaching her classmates about sun safety.
How these teens are staying sun safe
Jasmine changed her mind about tanning.
She puts sunscreen on exposed skin when she goes out.
The same goes for Sabine.
Her routine involves tinted sunscreen with SPF 40 (sun protection factor).
That way she can look a little more tanned without the additional sun exposure risk.
As a runner and a teen with an outdoor job on a horse farm, she also checks the daily UV or ultraviolet forecast.
That’s because, the higher the UV number, the stronger the sun’s rays are and the quicker you can get a burn.
Sabine, right, and her friend use sunscreen as part of their daily sun-safe makeup routine. (Image submitted by Sabine Scurfield)
A UV forecast predicts the intensity of the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays based on things like time of day, location and cloud coverage.
Sabine wears a hat, updates her sunscreen application every few hours and wears long-sleeved shirts when she can.
Experts weigh in on sun trends
Elizabeth Holmes is the director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charity for cancer research in the country, and is aware of peer pressure for perfect tans.
She says one in 45 Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma (a serious form of skin cancer) at some point in their lifetime.
A search of #tanning on TikTok shows that many young people are sharing their tanning tips on social media. (Image credit: TikTok)
She added kids like Jasmine and Sabine have the right idea, and they should feel empowered to positively influence their peers, rather than the other way around.
Dermatologist — or skin doctor — Elena Netchiporouk works at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec, and has studied the sun habits of kids and teens in Canada.
According to her research, as kids get older, they become less interested in sun protection and more interested in tanning.
This can be dangerous.
“Any sunburn prior to the age of 18 will increase the risk of skin cancer by 30 per cent,” said Netchiporouk.
That’s because young skin cells divide rapidly as kids grow, and any bad burn can cause skin cells to become cancerous down the line.
Netchiporouk was one of the researchers behind a 2026 study that looked into sun exposure and safety practices among Canadian youth.
She found that of the 7,139 youth (ages 12-19) surveyed, more than 40 per cent reported a sunburn in the previous year and more than 61 per cent rarely or never applied sunscreen.
Her solution?
Netchiporouk recommends wearing UV shirts, along with hats, sunglasses and applying sunscreen (with SPF 50) everywhere that is exposed every two hours.
While future skin problems might feel years and years away from affecting you, teens like Sabine want sun protection to be taken more seriously.
“You’ve got to think about your future self,” she said.
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