Awareness of cancer among adolescents: A study of nine focus groups in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Issue Addressed: One third of cancers are potentially preventable by modifying key risk factors that arise during adolescence. To help inform prevention efforts, we investigated adolescents' understanding of cancer risk factors, symptoms and signs and barriers to help-seeking.

Methods: Nine focus groups were conducted with purposefully sampled, binary-gendered friendship groups of 12 to 17-year-olds.

Inadequate sun protection practices lead to sunburn among New Zealanders.

Nil.

A Photoaging Intervention Delivered to Adolescents in Secondary Schools: A Feasibility Study.

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation during adolescence can have a lasting effect on long-term skin cancer risk. Skin cancer prevention interventions for adolescents have been less commonly investigated than those for children and adults. The study objectives were to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a secondary school-based appearance focused intervention, including the development and testing of protocols and instruments, as a resource module that could be efficiently integrated into the secondary school science curriculum.

National Sporting Organisation policies: A health promotion opportunity?

Issue Addressed: The objective was to identify whether National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) have policy documentation on healthy behaviours (smokefree, sun-protection, healthy food/beverages and alcohol) and, for organisations with such documentation, whether this was in-line with current scientific evidence of past best practice in cancer prevention.

Methods: This cross-sectional policy analysis study was performed September to December 2018 in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A content analysis was undertaken using NSO policy documents matched against a framework of key indicators for best practice within health behaviours of interest.

Generating political priority for skin cancer primary prevention: A case study from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Issues Addressed: Skin cancer is highly prevalent but preventable, yet little research has been done on the challenges in generating political priority for skin cancer prevention. This qualitative study aimed to identify the political challenges to, facilitators of, and strategies to strengthen skin cancer prevention. The focus was on the case of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ): a country with high skin cancer rates, but limited investment in primary prevention.

Erythemal ultraviolet radiation exposure of high school rowers in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Athletes who compete in outdoor sports can receive potentially harmful levels of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Rowing is a popular outdoor sport that takes place during the peak UVR season. Using electronic dosimeters attached to the shoulder strap of the rower's uniform, this study aimed to quantify the real-time solar UVR exposure experienced by high school rowers during competition.

Effectiveness of Sun Protection Interventions Delivered to Adolescents in a Secondary School Setting: A Systematic Review.

Aim: The aim of this systematic review is to summarise the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions targeted to adolescents (13 to 18 years inclusive) and delivered in a secondary school setting with the purpose of improving sun protection behaviour, reducing ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure, and/or improving physiological outcomes related to UVR exposure (such as erythema or naevi development).

Methods: Peer-reviewed journal articles were identified from seven database searches (Cochrane, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Medline, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) to January 2020, forward citation searches of relevant articles, and monitoring of WHO INTERSUN UVR list server for recent publications. Relevant articles were collected and critically analysed using the Effective Public Health Practice framework.

Sun protection policies and practices in New Zealand primary schools.

Aim: To assess sun protection policies and practices in New Zealand primary schools.

Methods: Principals at 1,243 schools (62% of eligible primary schools) completed a survey about school: 1) provision of personal and environmental sun protection, 2) sun protection practices.

Results: Virtually all schools (94%) had a sun protection policy/procedure about which their community was informed (96%).

Sun protection and shade availability in New Zealand's outdoor recreation spaces.

Aims: We aimed to investigate sun protection behaviours and shade availability in outdoor recreation spaces using images captured by children who, in 2014/15, wore wearable cameras for four consecutive days.

Methods: The 168 participants visited 16 outdoor recreation spaces between 10am and 4pm, capturing 378 images, on average, in each setting. People observed in the images (n=2,635) were coded for age, sex, clothing worn (38 clothing types) and shade used.

SunSmart news? Traditional media coverage of sun protection issues during springtime in New Zealand.

Issues Addressed: Cutaneous melanomas and keratinocyte carcinomas (nonmelanoma skin cancer) are highly prevalent in New Zealand (NZ), making skin cancer a priority area for cancer control. Spring is an important time for encouraging sun-safety, due to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels becoming hazardous. The news media have a potential to play an important role in reminding people and emphasising the importance of sun-safety.

Cancer Mortality, Early Detection and Treatment among Adult New Zealanders: Changes in Perceptions between 2001 and 2014/5.

Background: Beliefs about cancer risk and experience of early detection and treatment can impact on willingness to engage with these initiatives. This study describes changes in perceptions of cancer mortality, early detection and treatment among adult New Zealanders (NZ) between two cross-sectional studies conducted in 2001 and 2014/5. Methods: Data was collected via telephone interviews conducted by trained interviewers in 2001 (231 females and 207 males, 64% response rate) and 2014/5 (588 females and 476 males, 64% response rate).

Studying third-parties and environments: New Zealand sun-safety research.

Wearable cameras have been used to study health behaviours, but their utility in assessing third-party behaviours and the built environment is uncertain. This paper reports on the feasibility of using wearable cameras for this purpose in a study of sun-protective behaviours and shade availability during school lunch-breaks. The Kids'Cam study provided 168 children (aged 11-13 years), recruited from 16 randomly selected schools in the Wellington region of New Zealand, with wearable cameras.

Sun Protection Among New Zealand Primary School Children.

Schools are an important setting for raising skin cancer prevention awareness and encouraging sun protection. We assessed the clothes worn and shade used by 1,278 children in eight schools in the Wellington region of New Zealand. These children were photographed for the Kids'Cam project between September 2014 and March 2015 during school lunch breaks.

Knowledge of Evidence-Based Cancer Risk Factors Remains Low Among New Zealand Adults: Findings from Two Cross-Sectional Studies, 2001 and 2015.

Objective: Cancer risk reduction messages are a part of cancer control efforts around the world. The complex reality is that risk factors differ for different types of cancer, making clear communication of desired behavioural changes more difficult. This study aims to describe awareness of risk factors for breast, bowel, cervical, prostate and lung cancer and cutaneous melanoma among New Zealanders in 2014/15 and identify changes in awareness since 2001.

Wellington Playgrounds Uncovered: An Examination of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation and Shade Protection in New Zealand.

Providing effective shade in summer recreation spaces can reduce children's risk of skin cancer. This study explored the quantity and protective quality of shade in Wellington, New Zealand playgrounds. Two researchers visited 50 randomly selected playgrounds during peak ultraviolet radiation (UVR) hours in summer and recorded the mean shade cover of playground equipment, seats, tables and open areas.

Sunbeds and skin cancer risk: quantifying a baseline estimate of sunbed facilities in South Africa prior to implementation of sunbed regulations.

Introduction: In 2009, ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices, i.e. sunbeds and tanning booths, were officially classified as carcinogenic to human health (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Clothing Protection from Ultraviolet Radiation: A New Method for Assessment.

Clothing modifies ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure from the sun and has an impact on skin cancer risk and the endogenous synthesis of vitamin D. There is no standardized method available for assessing body surface area (BSA) covered by clothing, which limits generalizability between study findings. We calculated the body cover provided by 38 clothing items using diagrams of BSA, adjusting the values to account for differences in BSA by age.

Unintended Sunburn: A Potential Target for Sun Protection Messages.

New Zealand (NZ) has the highest melanoma incidence rate in the world. Primary prevention efforts focus on reducing sunburn incidence and increasing sun protective practices in the population. However, sunburn from excessive ultraviolet radiation (UVR) remains common.

Subcellular tracking reveals the location of dimethylsulfoniopropionate in microalgae and visualises its uptake by marine bacteria.

Phytoplankton-bacteria interactions drive the surface ocean sulfur cycle and local climatic processes through the production and exchange of a key compound: dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). Despite their large-scale implications, these interactions remain unquantified at the cellular-scale. Here we use secondary-ion mass spectrometry to provide the first visualization of DMSP at sub-cellular levels, tracking the fate of a stable sulfur isotope (S) from its incorporation by microalgae as inorganic sulfate to its biosynthesis and exudation as DMSP, and finally its uptake and degradation by bacteria.

'Out of the frying pan, but not into the fire': quantifying commercial cosmetic tanning services in New Zealand to inform endgame regulation.

Aims: In the context of possible regulation, to quantify and describe: (1) indoor tanning businesses in New Zealand; (2) sunbeds available for sale on Trade Me©.

Method: In January 2016, we conducted a national audit of businesses potentially providing sunbed services (solariums, beauty-salons, hairdressers, gyms and fitness centres) to assess the availability and cost of indoor tanning services (sunbeds and spray tanning). In addition, Trade Me©, New Zealand's largest auction site for second-hand goods, was monitored for one year to determine whether ex-commercial sunbeds were being sold in the domestic market.

Cancer Information Seeking Among Adult New Zealanders: a National Cross-Sectional Study.

Organisations seeking to establish themselves as leading cancer information sources for the public need to understand patterns and motivators for information seeking. This study describes cancer information seeking among New Zealanders through a national cross-sectional survey conducted in 2014/15 with a population-based sample of adults (18 years and over). Participants were asked if they had sought information about cancer during the past 12 months, the type of information they sought, what prompted them to look for information and ways of getting information they found helpful.

Community-wide Interventions to Prevent Skin Cancer: Two Community Guide Systematic Reviews.

Context: Skin cancer is a preventable and commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S. Excessive ultraviolet radiation exposure is a known cause of skin cancer.

Sun exposure and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in a community sample: Quantifying the association with electronic dosimeters.

There is uncertainty about the amount of sun exposure required to increase low blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels, a possible disease risk factor. The study aimed to quantify the association between sun exposure and serum 25(OH)D concentrations in a multiethnic community sample (n=502) living in Auckland (37°S) and Dunedin (46°S), New Zealand, aged 18-85 years. They wore electronic ultraviolet dosimeters between March and November (autumn, winter and spring) for 8 weeks to record their sun exposure.