19 Sunburn Sunburn is an indicator of both the intensity of a person’s UV exposure and the person’s sun sensitivity, making it a useful measure of our progress toward reducing skin cancer incidence rates. Although use of sun protection has increased slightly in recent years, sunburn prevalence remains high, with about one-third of US adults and over half of US high school students getting sunburned each year. Table 6 describes sunburn among high school students by sex, race/ethnicity, and grade in school. Table 7 describes changes in sunburn over time among adults by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Table 6. Prevalence of Sunburn* Among High School Students, 2017 Characteristic Total, % Female, % Male, % Total 57.2 61.6 52.8 Race/ethnicity Non-Hispanic white 74.8 78.8 70.5 Non-Hispanic black 13.0 15.5 10.4 Hispanic 45.0 50.1 40.3 Grade 9 57.7 61.5 53.6 10 57.2 61.2 52.9 11 55.6 59.9 51.2 12 58.7 63.9 53.2 * Counting even a small part of the skin turning red or hurting for 12 hours or more after being outside in the sun or after using a sunlamp or other indoor tanning device, one or more times during the 12 months before the survey Source: National High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey; table adapted from Kann et al.19
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