THERE'S good news for skin cancer prevention - suntans are going out of fashion.
Bronzed and beautiful are no longer two words that fit together in the eyes of 74 per cent of teenagers in the NW who now believe that having a suntan can make them look 'chavvy' - definitely not the in look.
Research revealed by the Teenage Cancer Trust, in conjunction with Superdrug, shows a trend towards teenagers revolting against suntans.
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However for those who are not , the Trust is launching a summer campaign, Shunburn, to educate teenagers on how to behave sensibly in the sun and has set up a free text alert service.
It seems that endless images of over-tanned celebrities are beginning to be a turn-off for many teens, but more education on behaving responsibly during the hot summer months - both in the UK and abroad - is desperately needed.
More than one in five teens state they do not give their health a second thought when out in the sun - admitting they're happy to just deal with the health consequences later in life.
A typical attitude. Haven't we all had it and then wished we hadn't?
But it's vital that teenagers act now to protect themselves because skin cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the UK. There are 75,000 new cases diagnosed each year with over 2,300 of these people dying from the disease.
The number of cases of melanoma in young people has doubled in the last 20 years and it's the damage done to the skin in the younger years that can lead to skin cancer in later life.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed then, because I burned to a blistered frazzle on many a Mediterranean beach in my younger days.
Now thankfully I don't like to see overtanned people - especially in winter.
I'll stay a milk bottle and hopefully safe - or if I want a bit of colour resort to the bottle or spray - until that is pronounced unsafe for some reason.
Teenagers can sign up to the text alert service by texting SHUN to 80231 or visit www.teenagecancertrust.org/shunburn
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