Iowans seem to be taking better precautions to protect themselves from the sun’s hazardous rays. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study indicates the percentage of Iowans reporting sunburns has dropped. Iowa was one of only four states to buck the national trend between the years of 1999 and 2004.
Chuck Reed, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society in Des Moines, says Iowans are heeding the warnings that link sunburns to skin cancer. "We’ve been preaching this for a long time: ‘Hey put your sunscreen on. You need SPF 30. Wear a hat when you work out in the yard or you go play a round of golf or something to protect yourself," Reed says.
The percentage of Iowans who reported getting sunburned at least once went from 49 percent in 1999 to 43-point-six percent five years later. That’s still well above the national average. Nearly 34 percent of the Americans surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control reported being sunburned at least once. Men are more likely than women to get sunburned, according to the survey.