Children 'need more teaching on cancer causes'

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19504674


Most children don't realise that sunburn can cause cancer

Children are unaware of what causes cancer, with a small number believing they can get it from behaving badly, suggests a poll by Macmillan Cancer Support.

The survey of 500 children aged nine to 16-years-old found that 97% do not know that sunburn can cause cancer - although 91% do know smoking causes it.

The charity says the results suggest children are ill-informed about cancer.

Teachers need to educate school children on cancer, it adds.

[CanSocDem]

1. I've noticed...

...that most of the attention on the disease is either fund raising or treatment after the fact.

You really don't want to know the causes....

.

[LeftishBrit]

2. In the past, people did not talk much about cancer, perhaps because it was seen as always fatal

It is important for children to learn about it, both because they are likely to meet people with cancer, and because prevention needs to start early: for instance, sunburn in childhood is more likely than sunburn in adulthood to lead to skin cancer later on.

Most children nowadays have come across anti-smoking campaigns, hence the large number who know that smoking can cause cancer. I think that Australian children nowadays would be more likely to know that sunburn can cause cancer, as there's been a lot of publicity given to sun safety there in recent years. In the UK, where this study was done, intense sunshine is unusual, so that people are less aware of the dangers. Nonetheless, it's important to know about these damgers, because it can get very sunny here, and also because many British families take 'holidays in the sun' in Spain or the south of France, for example.