Bite Autumn 2012

bite real life T he scene is set, the sun is shining and the waves are lightly tickling the shore of a secluded beach in the Bahamas. You have the perfect designer bikini you’ve always wanted and the washboard abs to go with it but before you get comfy, you must remember the most important beach accessory: sunscreen. Over the last year tanorexia, a new and highly dangerous fad has influenced many in the UK and beyond. Though the tanorexic label itself may sound

a little ridiculous, it is in fact a medical condition describing a psychological addiction disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with spending large amounts of time tanning, exposed to the sun or under a tanning bed.This is usually due to the common perception that one is unattractively pale. With eight million people currently suffering from skin disease in the UK, tanorexia is a serious health issue. The disorder was put on a global media platform in May of this year when tanorexic mum, Patricia Krentcil from New Jersey was arrested after taking her fair skinned five-year-old daughter to a tanning salon where she received burns all over her body. The issue was also brought to the attention of many in the fashion industry after the H&M summer campaign was criticised by health professionals, who believed that the images would encourage unhealthy behaviour amongst young people. In recent years, the appeal of tanning has grown.Though there are numerous fake

EVERYYEAR,THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FLOCK TO HOLIDAY HOTSPOTS TO CATCHTHE SUN OR ALTERNATIVELY USE SUNBEDS TO GET THAT GOLDENTAN BUT DOTHEY REALISE THE CONSEQUENCES? CORRINE MCCONNACHIE EXPLAINS THE DANGERS OF USINGTANNING BEDS AND NOT PROTECTING OUR SKIN FROMTHE SUN’S RAYS. The Time Bomb is ticking for Tanorexics

tan products on the market, many young people across the UK are seeking a more permanent solution in the frequent use of sunbeds, unaware of the severe risks involved. A review by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency

for Research on Cancer ( IARC) found that first exposure to sunbeds before the age of 35 increases the risk of malignant melanoma by 75 per cent. In Scotland the popularity of sunbeds over the last decade has impacted dramatically upon the health of the nation with official figures showing a 62.8 per cent increase in skin cancer between 2000 and 2010.