“Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor of a similar magnitude as smoking, in terms of life expectancy.”
https://www.outsideonline.com/health/wellness/sunscreen-sun-...
Personally, I'm from the UK and don't worry about skin cancer. If I was in Australia or some climate I'm not adapted for then I'd be concerned.
Yet the impact on quality of life is huge. Using the same US numbers [0], comparing directly-attributable deaths against life years lost (disability-adjusted life years):
- melanoma: 2.2 vs 64.8
- squamous cell carcinoma: 0.8 vs 26.6
- basal cell carcinoma: 0.2 vs 51.2
It's not scientific by nature, it focuses on outdoor activities, which is only a tangent topic, the author has no bio, there is little to no bibliographic references.
It was an observational study of 30k women over two decades, so very good statistical power.
> As compared to the highest sun exposure group, the mortality rate was doubled (2.0, 95% CI 1.6–2.5) amongst avoiders of sun exposure and increased by 40% (1.4, 95% CI 1.1– 1.7) in those with moderate exposure. We found that the assumption of proportional hazards seemed reasonable.
So at least among Swedish middle aged women, you are twice as likely to die if you avoid the sun, vs. if you are exposed more to the sun, controlling for factors like income, education, smoking, BMI, and exercise.
It was not a RCT, but then almost no studies of all cause mortality are.
A smaller case study of 500 melanoma patients (https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/dji019) also found that "sun exposure is associated with increased survival from melanoma."
I think sudden and extreme sun exposure, i.e. "staying in an office all year and then going on the beach for 9h on vacation" definitely requires sunscreen, but consistent and moderate sun exposure at a rate that your body can tan and adjust to is probably a net positive for everything from circadian effects to mood and mortality, even accounting for skin cancer risk.
"In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, Lindqvist’s team put it in perspective: “Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor of a similar magnitude as smoking, in terms of life expectancy.”"
