Children’s exposure to UV
Researchers like Richard McKenzie have shown that summer radiation in Aotearoa New Zealand has the potential to burn and, as research shows that excess UV exposure in early life could be an important risk factor for skin cancer (particularly melanoma), the Cancer Society decided to fund some research to find out about New Zealand children’s exposure to UV radiation from the Sun.
Wearing dosimeter badges
Children wearing UV dosimeter badges that record the amount of sunburning UV (UVB) every eight seconds.
In the summer of 2004–2005, 491 school children (year 4 and year 8 students from 27 schools throughout New Zealand) took part in a study where physicists from NIWA and social scientists from the University of Otago measured each child’s personal exposure to UV as well as their activity during the day and how they were protected from UV. This was a massive undertaking, and Gregory Bodeker (from Lauder) and Caradee Wright and Anthony Reeder (from the University of Otago) developed this scientific experiment to provide a database that was the first of its kind in the world.
The children wore electronic UV monitors (dosimeters) that had been developed by Martin Allen from the University of Canterbury.
These dosimeters logged each child’s UV exposure at eight-second intervals throughout the day. Each child was also asked to keep an activity diary for the seven days they wore the dosimeter, where they recorded what they were doing, where they were, what clothes they were wearing and whether they were using any sun protection. The researchers also used a questionnaire to record the children’s knowledge about and attitudes to sun safety. The research project was very thorough because these scientists also monitored the UV radiation at the children’s schools, gathered school policies on sun protection of their students and kept a record of each child’s skin type.
The research team compiled all this data in an extensive database and were able to create graphs that displayed each child’s activities and UV exposure during the seven days.
School children UV exposure research
Dr Greg Bodeker, Research Scientist at NIWA, Lauder, Central Otago, outlines recent research into monitoring the exposure to UV of children while they are at school.
Once the data was analysed, it showed each child’s personal exposure rates related to their activities and time of the day these activities happened.
The results surprised the scientists. They found that the average daily personal UV exposure was relatively low, but some children did experience enough UV exposure to be sunburnt. Boys experienced a higher exposure rate than girls, and year 8 students experienced higher UV exposure than year 4 students.
Nature of science
Databases of research results are valuable because they can be referred to later when comparing them with new data from similar research or when analysing the original data in new ways.
What was most surprising was that, even though the average total exposure of UV was relatively low, the personal exposure rates were higher on school days than during the weekend. The scientists felt that it could be important to ensure that children don’t get too much UV exposure during the daylight-saving months.
The Cancer Society and the scientists predict that this database will be an important source of information for developing health promotion programmes and will be useful for future studies of the distribution of skin cancers in New Zealand.
Related content
Learn more about skin cancer, the risks and the link to ultraviolet radiation (UV) with these articles:
Activity ideas
For those interested in protection from UV – begin with The face of melanoma, an activity that looks at lifestyle factors that contribute to skin cancer.
Follow this with activities using the popular UV beads: UV bead items, Investigating UV intensity and Investigating sunscreens.
There is also a unit plan covering this aspect of UV.
Useful links
Results released in 2018 from the Wellington Kids’Cam study by the University of Otago, show that people need to wear sun hats and stay in the shade a lot more.
NIWA (now Earth Science New Zealand) has information about the UV Index they use and also has a daily UV index with graphs for Auckland (Leigh Marine Observatory), Paraparaumu, Christchurch, Lauder and Invercargill.
With Aotearoa New Zealand's sunlight having high levels of ultraviolet (UV), use the useful Sunsmart website for helpful information and tips on keeping safe.
