School Notes: School of Public Health
March/April 2012

Skin cancer in young people linked to indoor tanning

People who use indoor tanning beds are at a significantly higher risk of developing basal cell carcinoma (BCC) before the age of 40 than people who never have used indoor tanning beds. Led by researchers from YSPH, a recent study determined that young people who had tanned indoors had a 69 percent increased risk of early-onset BCC. The association was strongest among women and the risk increased with years of indoor tanning use. “Indoor tanning was strikingly common in our study of young skin cancer patients, especially in the women, which may partially explain why 70 percent of early-onset BCCs occur in females,” said Susan T. Mayne, professor at the School of Public Health and the senior author of the study.

Using games to combat deadly disease

Students from the schools of public health and forestry and environmental studies are working with officials from the Red Cross/Red Crescent’s Climate Centre to promote an educational program that teaches children about the dangers posed by dengue fever. The students developed a game known as Humans Versus Mosquitoes with the goal of educating children about complex health and environmental concepts in a way that is fun and will make a lasting impression. The game can be played in an open field or on a tabletop. It requires no special equipment and has no complex rules. Its objective is simple—either the humans or the mosquitoes are left standing in the end.

Exploring public health aspects of food

An exhibition at Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History through December 2 addresses the food challenges of the twenty-first century, including changing eating habits and the alarming levels of obesity in the United States and beyond. Big Food: Health, Culture, and the Evolution of Eating will probe such topics as the neuroscience behind appetite and obesity; social, environmental, and cultural influences on behavioral choices in nutrition and exercise; and the serious health consequences associated with obesity. The exhibition’s lead curator is Jeannette R. Ickovics, professor and director of the social and behavioral sciences program at YSPH.