世論 What Japan Thinks

Perhaps just because I come from more northern stock where skin is paler and more susceptible to not just burning but melanoma and skin cancer, but I feel that over-exposure to the sun is seen more a beauty rather than a health issue here in Japan, and indeed there seems to be a lot of folk wisdom that suggests a child cooked brown is a healthy child. In addition, given the apparent lack of parental care regarding second-hand smoke and child car seats, for instance, I lloked forward to seeing what results came from a recent survey by DIMSDRIVE Research on the topic of ultraviolet protection for children.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 29th of June 2007 DIMSDRIVE Research interviewed 7,121 members of its internet monitor pool by means of a private online questionnaire. 51.8% of the sample was female, 1.0% in their teens, 14.2% in their twenties, 34.0% in their thirties, 29.7% in their forties, 14.6% in their fifties, and 6.5% aged sixty or older. 66.0% were married, and 53.0% had children.

For myself, I wear a hat mostly, and avoid going out for too long in the summertime sun. Thinking about it, in the last few years I’ve actually had sunburn more often when abroad than in Japan, which is perhaps a reflection on Japan being far too hot meaning I have stay in air-conditioned space as much as possible.

I’ve done a bit of web research to find out what is the incidence of skin cancer in Japan, and surprisingly it looks like it is almost neglegible. It doesn’t merit its own separate category in the official cancer statistics of Japan (interestingly, by 2020 prostate cancer will be the second most common cancer in men, yet I’ve never ever seen it mentioned on any popular health program here, and I watch rather a lot of them), and a rather old TIME article suggests that Japanese in Kauai, Hawaii are 88 times more likely than Japanese in Japan to develop skin malignancy.

Research results

Q1: When going outside, what sort of ultraviolet (UV) protective measures do you take for yourself? (Sample size=7,121, multiple answer)

Apply sunblock cream, etc	38.4%
Wear a hat	31.9%
Use UV-blocking cosmetics	30.7%
Use a parasol	17.9%
Wear sunglasses	15.4%
Wear long sleeves	14.7%
Use cosmetics with a whitening effect	12.7%
Don’t go outside when the UV rays are strong	10.4%
Apply comsetics thickly, thoroughly	6.7%
Wear gloves	6.7%
Use UV blocking screen on car windows	6.7%
Take supplements	6.0%
Apply after-sun care after being outside	4.3%
Wear clothes with UV blocking effect	2.7%
Other	0.2%
Don’t take any UV countermeasures when going out	36.3%

Looking at the male-female split, only 10.0% of women took no measures, whilst 64.6% of men didn’t bother. The only measures for men that scored more than 10% were wearing a hat at 19.6% and wearing sunglasses at 15.8%

For those with no children, the survey continues from Q8.

Q2: Do you take ultraviolet protective measures for your youngest child? (Sample size=1,919, those with a child in elementary school or younger)

Yes (to Q3)	42.1%
No (to Q7)	56.6%
Don’t know	1.3%

By child’s age, just over half of all parents of three or under children took UV blocking measures; however, for kindergarten and elementary-aged children, the rate dropped noticeably to about 40% of girls and 30% of boys, with only 15.0% of boys in years four to six of primary education being made to take measures against sun damage.

Q3: In which seasons of the year do you take ultraviolet protective measures for your youngest child? (Sample size=808, multiple answer)

Spring	28.3%
Summer	79.3%
Autumn	8.8%
Winter	0.9%
All year	0.0%
Don’t know	20.5%

I’m not sure why as many as one in five don’t know what seasons measures are taken, although it is easy to speculate that it is at least partially due to fathers who’ve merely seen a bottle of children’s sun cream in the bathroom!

Q4: At what age did you start taking ultraviolet protective measures for your youngest child? (Sample size=808)

Zero years old	56.6%
One to three years old	27.2%
Pre-school age	8.9%
First to third year of elementary school	3.8%
Fourth to sixth year of elementary school	2.0%
Don’t know	1.5%

Q5: What ultraviolet protective measures do you take for your youngest child (including what he/she does his/herself)? (Sample size=808, multiple answer)

Apply sunblock cream, etc (to SQ)	87.6%
Make them wear a hat	78.1%
Don’t go outdoors when UV is strong	32.1%
Raise hood on push chair	31.6%
Make them play in the shade	23.9%
Use UV blocking screen on car windows	23.6%
Close blinds, curtains, etc	17.1%
Make them wear long sleeves	10.8%
Make them play indoors	8.8%
Shade them with parasol	8.0%
Apply after-sun care after being outside	5.8%
Apply UV blocking film, etc to house windows	3.3%
Food or supplement (vitamin C intake, etc)	3.1%
Other	0.2%
Don’t know	0.0%

Q5SQ: What are you aware of when buying, using, etc, sun block for your child? (Sample size=708, multiple answer)

Choose infant, child formulation	80.4%
Choose non-perfumed, non-coloured, non-preservative	26.8%
Choose after allergy test	22.0%
Choose easy to remove type	20.5%
Choose high SPF, PA type	18.6%
Apply thinly	13.6%
Choose water, sweat-resistant type	13.4%
Frequently reapply	13.0%
Ensure children don’t lick it	12.9%
Wash off soon after returning home	9.2%
Choose low SPF, PA type	5.5%
Apply liberally	3.8%
Other	1.3%
Not aware of doing anything	2.5%

Q6: To what extent do you think you are taking ultraviolet protective measures for your youngest child? (Sample size=808, multiple answer)

Doing sufficient	1.4%
Doing something	34.8%
Can’t say either way	38.4%
Not really doing enough	24.8%
Hardly doing anything at all	0.6%

There was almost no variation by sex of children, but by age there was an interesting pattern:

	0 years old	1-3 years old	4-5 years old	1st to 3rd year primary	4th to 6th year primary
Doing sufficient	0.8%	0.9%	2.4%	1.5%	2.2%
Doing something	40.8%	36.1%	32.8%	24.6%	38.6%
Can’t say either way	37.6%	39.1%	38.4%	39.3%	36.6%
Not really doing enough	19.2%	23.9%	25.6%	33.8%	21.5%
Hardly doing anything at all	1.0%	0.0%	0.8%	0.8%	1.1%

What happens when a child enters fourth year of primary (from age 9)? Is it that parents think the children are out of the danger zone or is it that children of that age follow their parents’ directions better? Sadly, this report does not suggest which it is.

Q7: Why do you not take ultraviolet protective measures for your youngest child? (Sample size=1,087, multiple answer)

Keep forgetting to do it	24.8%
Troublesome to do	19.9%
Don’t think it’s necessary to take UV countermeasures	19.4%
They are still young	14.3%
Don’t know what’s best to do	12.6%
Children don’t like it	12.3%
Sun block cream doesn’t suit their skin	5.7%
UV countermeasures are not needed (don’t go outside, etc)	2.6%
Other	2.9%
No particular reason	24.5%

Other reasons given were that they cannot be watched at school, want to avoid applying too many medicines to child’s skin, natural tan is best, they need UV to produce vitamin D and if they don’t get enough they’ll become allergic to UV, and that they plan to start this summer.

Q8: From what age do you think ultraviolet (UV) protective measures are necessary? (Sample size=7,121)

From birth	35.0%
From one to three years old	7.8%
From four to five years old	4.6%
From first to third year elementary school	3.8%
From fourth to sixth year elementary school	2.5%
From middle school	10.0%
From high school	8.0%
Older than that	14.0%
UV countermeasures are not neeed	14.3%

Breaking down by the adult respondent sex and age, women are more likely to want to start UV protection earlier. Indeed, over one in four men think it is not necessary at all. In particular, over half of all women in their thirties think UV protection should start from soon after birth.

Breaking down by the child’s age, those with younger children believe that sunburn protection should start earlier than those with older children.

Q9: Regarding you yourself, do you think it would have been better if you’d taken more ultraviolet (UV) protective measures when you were younger? (Sample size=7,121)

	All	Male N=3,430	Female N=3,691
Strongly think so	24.6%	7.7%	40.3%
Think so a little	32.0%	23.1%	40.4%
Don’t really think so	27.7%	39.5%	16.6%
Don’t think so at all	15.7%	29.7%	2.7%

Q9A: Regarding you yourself, do you think it would have been better if you’d taken more ultraviolet (UV) protective measures when you were younger? (Sample size=1,919, those with children)

	UV care for kids N=808	No UV care for kids N=1,087	Don’t know N=24
Strongly think so	41.8%	18.4%	12.5%
Think so a little	38.9%	30.4%	20.8%
Don’t really think so	16.0%	31.4%	41.7%
Don’t think so at all	3.3%	19.8%	25.0%