Storybooks cover sun-safety decently but lack in diversity

Skin cancers are real risks for people with dark skin. However, dermatologists still routinely address misconceptions about cancer risk among people of color, according to Dr. Anna Tappel, dermatology resident. While it is accurate to say that light-skinned people are generally more at risk for skin cancer, it is untrue that people with dark skin lack risk. For example, melanomas in Black, Asian and native Hawaiian populations often arise on body regions that people don’t associate with sun danger, such as palms, soles of the feet, and under fingernails.

Tappel and colleagues studied children’s storybooks on this topic to evaluate how well the narratives aligned with 19 sun-protection considerations identified by the American Academy of Dermatology. Of the 13 books that included color illustrations of people, only three depicted people of dark skin tones within the book and only one did so on the cover.

“At bare minimum, I would want to have one good sun-protection book set in a Black family, and one in a Hispanic family, and one in an Asian family. We’d hope that each book could directly address the common misconceptions and real risks for skin cancer among people who have darker skin,” Tappel said.

Read the full story from UW Medicine Newsroom.