Geller, Alan C.Rutsch, LindaKenausis, KristinSelzer, PaulaZhang, Zi2011-12-292011-12-2920032003-11-3Geller, Alan C, Linda Rutsch, Kristin Kenausis, Paula Selzer, Zi Zhang. "Can an hour or two of sun protection education keep the sunburn away? Evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency's Sunwise School Program" Environmental Health 2:13. (2003)1476-069Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/2144/2652BACKGROUND: Melanoma incidence is rising at a rate faster than any other preventable cancer in the United States. Childhood exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light increases risk for skin cancer as an adult, thus starting positive sun protection habits early may be key to reducing the incidence of this disease. METHODS: The Environmental Protection Agency's SunWise School Program, a national environmental and health education program for sun safety of children in primary and secondary schools (grades K-8), was evaluated with surveys administered to participating students and faculty. RESULTS: Pretests (n = 5,625) and posttests (n = 5,028) were completed by students in 102 schools in 42 states. Significant improvement was noted for the three knowledge variables. Intentions to play in the shade increased from 68% to 75%(p < 0.001) with more modest changes in intentions to use sunscreen. Attitudes regarding healthiness of a tan also decreased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Brief, standardized sun protection education can be efficiently interwoven into existing school curricula, and result in improvements in knowledge and positive intentions for sun protection.enCopyright 2003 Geller et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.Skin cancerPreventionSchoolsNursesTeachersEnvironmental healthArticle10.1186/1476-069X-2-1314613488280666