(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
The quintessential image of the sun-bronzed Australian is something it seems younger Asian arrivals are keen to emulate.
But the trend to tan could have potentially devastating results.
Unlike older generations of Asians who have regarded paleness as a paragon of beauty, today's teens are aspiring to a more Western ideal.
As Karen Ashford reports, there are fears young Asians wanting to fit in with their Australian peers could be inviting big health problems in the future.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Australia has a reputation as a sun-drenched, beach-loving nation.
But that sun has a real sting.
Australia has one of the highest incidents of skin cancer in the world, and current statistics show two in three Australians will develop skin cancer before age 70.
However, that does not stop Yi-Lynn Tey, a teenager of Chinese-Malaysian heritage.
"Well, I have a desire to get a suntan, because I feel like being tanned is more desirable in teenage culture. And most of my friends do get suntans and do go out of their way on the beach to put suntan oil on and get a tan."
Yi-Lynn Tey recently participated in a University of Adelaide study on the sun-related behaviours of young Asians.
It turns out she is not alone in her habits.
Of 140 participants aged 18 to 26, nearly half the women and a third of the men admitted to deliberately tanning.
Researcher Dr Ashley Day says it shows a desire by the young to fit in with perceived Western ideals.
"As people move to Australia, acculturate to Australian standards, they start to desire a tanned appearance, similarly to Caucasian Australians. Sun protection levels were really low, skin cancer knowledge was really low, and people were engaging in risky suntanning behaviour."
The trend towards tanning reveals a shift in values, compared with older generations of Asians.
Yi-Lynn Tey's mother Tessa considers a pale complexion attractive.
"I use whitening products to make my pigmentation lighter. I prefer paler skin, fairer skin. Maybe as an Asian, Chinese person, we are maybe brought up to think that a fair skinned lady looks prettier. And, personally, I feel that, with fairer skin, we look younger as well.
Yi-Lynn Tey says it is not just a generational difference but one of cultural transition.
"Because Mum was brought up in Asia and, most Asian countries, they bring girls up to think that, the fairer your skin, the prettier you are, the sweeter you look, the more dainty you are, whereas, Western culture, we teach to put fake tan on, go out and get a suntan. So I think that, because Mum was mainly raised in an Asian country, whereas I've been here for a few years, that has sort of changed my mind, and I've been more influenced by the Western culture. I think that's an important aspect of why we think so differently of our skin."
Researchers are now wondering whether young Asians' pursuit of tanning means sun safe messages simply are not resonating.
The anti-tanning awareness campaign has been around since the 1980s.
But young Asians arriving more recently have not grown up with that message.
Dr Ashley Day thinks new approaches may be needed for particular target groups.
"A lot of the sun protection messages are really targeted at a Caucasian audience. Obviously, Caucasians do have the highest risk of skin cancer and have higher rates. But considering that there's such a high proportion of Asian migrants to Australia and such a large percentage of Asian students in Australian universities, I think it's really important that the messages are clear to people moving to Australia about the risks of the Australian sun and the need to protect themselves from the sun."
Some young people like Yi-Lynn Tey actually think their Asian skin type has greater resistance to sun damage.
"If I'm at the beach or out with my friends, I make sure I've got suntan oil on so it helps me to produce a healthy glow, you might say. I don't think that I've got sunburnt very often, if not rarely, and so I feel like that's part of the reason why Australian Asians are so carefree about the sun, because our skin rarely gets burnt, as compared to someone with a paler skin.
However, the Cancer Council's Joanne Rayner says there is no such thing as a healthy tan.
"Well, it's very concerning that people would be tanning. We know that tanning is a sign of skin damage, and tanning and sunburn certainly significantly increases the risk of developing skin cancer later on. They've identified that childhood and adolescent exposure to UV radiation significantly increases someone's risk of developing skin cancer later in life. So it's certainly not a practice that we'd be encouraging people to do."
The Cancer Council says more than 750,000 skin cancers are treated in Australia each year and about 2,000 people die from them.
Dr Ashley Day says misconceptions may cost lives if young Asians not only chase a tan, but later fail to spot the early warning signs of cancer and delay going to a doctor.
"Some of the sample actually said, 'We believe that having Asian skin protects us from skin cancer,' which is pretty concerning, because that's just not true. The risk is lower -- the incidence is lower -- but what we do know is that people of Asian heritage who do get skin cancer tend to be diagnosed at a later point, and then the prognosis is worse. So they tend to have poorer outcomes than Caucasians when they are diagnosed with skin cancer."
Joanne Rayner laments the lack of data on cancer rates according to cultural background.
"Any tanning or any sunburn of any type of skin significantly increases that risk of skin cancer developing. I think any research that gives us more information about what people are doing, their sun-protective behaviours -- whether from different age groups or different cultural groups -- certainly helps us to develop better messaging around skin protection and to encourage those positive skin protection behaviours that we want people to be undertaking."
Tessa Tey says she tries her best to get the sun safe message through to her daughter, even slipping tubes of sunscreen into her bag before she goes to the beach.
But she says it is ultimately up to her daughter to act responsibly, and she hopes she recognises the heightened risk of skin cancer in Australia, compared with Asia.
"I don't think it's prevalent, it's not common, in Malaysia, but, of course, when we came to Australia, we find that the weather is really extreme, the sun can be hot and damaging. And I've heard of people that have skin cancer, more than I know back in Malaysia."
Yi-Lynn Tey says, since taking part in the university study, she is trying to be more careful with her sun habits.
"Because I feel like being tanned is a part of the teenage culture. I don't want to feel left out. I don't want to ... Personally, I do think that having tanned skin looks better. Mum constantly reminds me that, if I don't put enough sunscreen on, I will have a higher chance of getting skin cancer -- or really bad skin -- but I don't tend to listen. But I've been putting some sunscreen on my face as part of my make-up routine, and I do try to take more precaution now."
