Melbourne: An alarming number of people are not protecting themselves from sun exposure because of fears they are not getting enough Vitamin D, according to a survey.
The survey of around 2,000 people carried out by Cancer Council in Queensland, where the rate of skin cancer is higher than any other state, found about one in five people stopped using hats, sunscreen and avoiding sun exposure because they feared they were not getting enough vitamin D, according to ABC report today.
The Council s Pip Youl said she was horrified by the findings and that in summer, people usually only need about five minutes of sun exposure each day.
"We can usually obtain those adequate levels of vitamin D just by going about our normal daily activities by walking up to our car in the morning, walking to the shops or just hanging out the washing," she said.
Researcher Michael Kimlin said people are confused about how much sun they need. "People thought that you needed more than half an hour in the sunlight to make vitamin D, which is much more than we know that is required," he said.
