LABOR MLA Dr Marisa Paterson will on move a motion in the Assembly this week calling on the ACT government to explore ways to encourage Canberra adults to brush up on their sun protection habits at playgrounds.
“Kids are great at sun safety behaviours, and their parents and primary caregivers are also excellent at helping children adopt sun safety practices, but parents and caregivers are not necessarily so good at looking after themselves,” Dr Paterson said.
Dr Paterson’s motion will call on the ACT government to consider using murals and posters at playgrounds encouraging Canberra adults to be sun smart.
“It would be great to see some of our talented local artists develop messaging for sun smart behaviours for adults through murals, signage and posters at playgrounds across the ACT,” she said.
Dr Paterson’s motion draws on research from Dr Vangelis Kanellis, a lecturer at the ANU College of Health and Medicine, which found that nearly one-third of caregivers were not wearing sunscreen at playgrounds, and almost three-quaters were not wearing a sun-safe hat for their entire period of time at the playground.
“Many of these adults grew up with the Cancer Council’s ‘slip, slop, slap’ messaging, which now also includes ‘seek and slide’, but research shows that it’s not always put into practice, including when supervising children at our local playgrounds,” Dr Paterson said.
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