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Speaker is PhD Candidate Anupriya Sukumar, from SOLA, and she will be discussing her research “Are New Zealand Children Protected from Skin Cancer? Setting the table for improved sun protection within primary schoolyards”.

“ Skin cancer is a serious health problem in New Zealand, mainly attributed to the increased incidence of solar UV radiation. Children are particularly vulnerable to excessive sun exposure. Consequently, the SunSmart school-based programme was developed to reduce the incidence of skin cancer among primary school-aged children in New Zealand. Many New Zealand primary schools are now SunSmart accredited; but according to the literature, a significant proportion of them are not sufficiently implementing the programme criteria, particularly the provision of shade in schoolyards. It may be leading to inadequate sun protection among primary school-aged children. There are currently not enough studies that comprehensively investigate the barriers that prevent the implementation of specific programme criteria in primary schools.

This research will investigate the extent to which SunSmart accredited schools in Christchurch are holistically implementing the programme criteria and determine the enablers and barriers to implementation through interviews, content analysis, and schoolyard site inventory and analysis. The research aims to explore the effectiveness of the tools used in the implementation process and helps strengthen them. Moreover, this research will increase the current understanding of how and why the school’s contextual factors influence the implementation process. As a result, it provides an opportunity to make suggestions as to how the programme could be tailored around to meet individual school needs and expectations for successful implementation of the programme and thereby improve sun protection among children.”