I read an interesting statistic this week that speaks volumes about America’s attitude towards tanning salons. Despite the fact there appears to be a Starbucks and Macca’s on just about every corner in the US (not to mention the known risks associated with tanning beds), the average number of tanning salons per city far outweighs the number of these common chain stores.
Apparently, there is an average of 42 tanning salons in every city, compared to an average of 19 Starbucks and 30 McDonald’s locations per city. The figures were revealed by Dr. Lauren Smith, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
I hope I’m not naïve in saying this, but isn’t this a far cry from our attitude in Australia towards sunbeds? I mean, the recent move in bdBLOG: The tanning debate was a huge leap forward in my opinion, and one that I hope will be embraced by other states and territories in the near future. We know that there are about 100 businesses in NSW with registered commercial tanning beds, but that number will be whittled down to nothing come 2014 when the ban is introduced.
Regardless of my opinion on sunbeds, the statistic comes as a surprise to Americans too, with the blogosphere abuzz with concern. Beauty High described the stat as alarming”, while Keri Wachter of Skin & Allergy News’ digital network claims it makes my double shot, white chocolate mocha with double whip sound downright healthy”.
Hopefully America can follow our lead and reduce this figure before too much damage is done. And while they’re at it, a few less Macca’s outlets wouldn’t kill them either.
