title: Sun-protection habits of primary students in a coastal area of Greece.
abstract: Aim. The aim of the present study was to record habits and attitudes of primary school students in Greece regarding sun-protection measures. Materials and Methods. 2,163 students with an average age of 9.9 (±1.1) years, studying in 14 schools of a Greek region, constituted our sample. The SPSS 17.0 software was used for the statistical analysis and significance level was set to P ≤ 0.05. Results. Our sample had an equal gender distribution. 16% of the students belonged to the high-risk group, 70.2% of the participants lived 0-5 km away from the sea (urban area), 84.2% of the students were Greek, and 15.8% had non-Greek nationality. Half of the participants said they wear a hat when under the sun and 72% of them said they use sunscreen. 33.1% of the students said they had a sunburn last summer. Greek students as well as those who lived near the sea had better behaviour patterns regarding sun protection. Finally, children who did not use a sunscreen systematically had suffered sunburns more often than the rest. Conclusions. Health education programmes are necessary for students and parents/teachers alike, in order to raise awareness about everyday sun protection.
authors.affiliation: General Hospital of Korinthos, 33 Sina Street, 20100 Corinth, Greece.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saridi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toska
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rekleiti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liachopoulou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalokairinou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Souliotis
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Birbas