Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies

Abstract

Background:

Despite the critical importance of sun protection in childhood for preventing skin cancer, significant gaps exist between provincial health guidelines and education-specific policies regarding sun safety in Canadian elementary schools.

Objective:

To systematically examine the current landscape of sun safety policies and interventions in Canadian elementary education settings and identify gaps between public health recommendations and educational policy implementation.

Methods:

We conducted a scoping review of literature published between 2005 and 2025 using 7 databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, Proquest Education Database, ERIC, and CBCA:Social Sciences) and performed a jurisdictional scan of sun safety policies across 9 Canadian cities, examining provincial, school board, and individual school websites.

Results:

This scoping review identified limited research on sun safety interventions in Canadian elementary schools, with most studies demonstrating effectiveness of educational programs but highlighting implementation challenges. The jurisdictional scan revealed significant disparities in policy accessibility and clarity across provinces. Public health websites typically provided more comprehensive information, while school-level policies were largely absent or difficult to locate.

Conclusion:

A substantial disconnect exists between provincial health guidelines and education system policies regarding sun safety. Comprehensive, standardized approaches to sun safety policy development and implementation are urgently needed across Canadian elementary schools.

Keywords

sun safety elementary schools health policy skin cancer prevention Canadian policy

Introduction

Skin cancer represents one of the most preventable forms of cancer, with ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure during childhood being a critical risk factor for melanoma development later in life.¹ Canadian epidemiological data consistently demonstrate rising melanoma incidence rates, making sun safety education and policy implementation in elementary schools a public health priority.¹ The formative years of elementary education present an optimal window for establishing lifelong sun-protective behaviors, with research indicating that sun safety habits developed during this period tend to persist into adulthood.¹

While provincial health authorities maintain comprehensive sun safety recommendations and resources, the translation of these guidelines into concrete, actionable policies at the school board and individual school levels remains inconsistent. This gap is particularly notable as children spend substantial portions of their day outside like recess and physical activities during peak UV exposure hours.

Li et al. conducted a study on sun safety interventions in Edmonton elementary schools which exemplify both the potential for effective school-based programs and the challenges in implementation.¹ Their research demonstrated that targeted interventions including educational presentations, reminder systems, addition of sun safety items to school supply lists, and accessible sunscreen provision could improve sun-protective behaviors among grade 6 students. The intervention group showed statistically significant increases in shade-seeking behavior compared to controls. Due to small sample size and study limitations, the researchers were unable to demonstrate statistically significant improvements in sunscreen use, protective clothing, and hat wearing, though numerical differences were observed. However, study limitations, including small sample size, self-reported outcomes, and lack of longitudinal follow-up, highlight the need for more comprehensive, policy-supported approaches to sun safety in educational settings.

The findings by Sowah et al. regarding vitamin D deficiency in indoor workers underscore a separate but related public health consideration.² Their research revealed that indoor workers, including healthcare professionals and shift workers, demonstrated significantly lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels compared to outdoor workers. However, it is important to note that Canadian public health organizations, including the Canadian Dermatology Association and Canadian Cancer Society, do not recommend sun exposure as a method for vitamin D synthesis due to the associated cancer risks. Given that most Canadians require oral vitamin D supplementation during winter months regardless of sun exposure history, and that genetic factors may play a more significant role in vitamin D synthesis than previously understood, sun safety policies should prioritize UV protection while addressing vitamin D needs through dietary supplementation rather than UV exposure.

Recent genetic evidence further reinforces the critical importance of preventing childhood sun exposure, with Mendelian randomization studies demonstrating that childhood sunburn significantly increases the risk of both melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers.³ These causal associations remained significant even after adjusting for confounding factors including skin color, facial aging, and lifestyle variables, highlighting childhood sunburn as an independent and preventable risk factor for skin cancer development.³

The current fragmentation of sun safety policies across Canadian educational jurisdictions creates inequitable protection for children and places an undue burden on individual schools and educators to develop and implement protective measures. This review seeks to comprehensively examine the existing landscape of sun safety policies and interventions in Canadian elementary education settings, identify critical gaps between public health recommendations and educational policy implementation, and provide evidence-based recommendations for improving policy coherence and effectiveness.

Methods

Scoping Review

We conducted a comprehensive scoping review following established methodological frameworks to examine the breadth and nature of research evidence regarding sun safety policies and interventions in Canadian elementary schools. The review was designed to map the existing literature, identify knowledge gaps, and inform policy recommendations. This project has been registered in Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6293M

Database Selection and Search Strategy: Seven electronic databases were systematically searched to ensure comprehensive coverage of relevant literature: Ovid MEDLINE, Embase (via Ovid), CINAHL Plus with Full Text (via EBSCOhost), Scopus, ERIC (via Proquest), Proquest Education Database, and Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database: Social Sciences (via Proquest).

Search Terms and Strategy: The search strategy employed a combination of controlled vocabulary and free-text terms related to sun safety, elementary education, and Canadian contexts. All of the search strategies are available in Supplemental Table S1.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Studies were included if they (1) addressed sun safety interventions, policies, or practices in elementary school settings; (2) included Canadian populations or settings; (3) were published in English between 2005 and 2025; and (4) reported on policy development, implementation, or evaluation. Studies were excluded if they focused solely on older populations, did not include Canadian contexts, or were published before 2005.

Data Extraction: From each included study, we extracted information on study design, population characteristics, intervention details, policy components, outcome measures, and key findings. Particular attention was paid to policy accessibility, implementation challenges, and effectiveness measures.

Jurisdictional Scan

City Selection: Nine Canadian cities were selected to represent diverse geographic regions, population sizes, and educational governance structures. Selection criteria included 3 cities from 3 provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario) including urban centers, mid-size cities, and smaller communities to ensure representation across the urban–rural spectrum. Cities were chosen to provide coverage across provinces with significant elementary school populations. These cities included Edmonton, Red Deer, Fort McMurray, Victoria, Kamloops, Fort St. John, Ottawa, Peterborough, and Sudbury.

Website Assessment Methodology: A systematic approach was employed to assess policy accessibility across three jurisdictional levels: provincial/territorial, school board/district, and individual school websites. For each selected city, we performed the following:

Provincial-Level Assessment: We examined provincial ministry of education and health department websites for sun safety guidelines, policies, and resources targeting elementary schools.

School Board/District-Level Assessment: We systematically searched school board websites using standardized search terms including “sun safety,” “UV protection,” “heat safety,” and related terminology.

School-Level Assessment: We selected individual schools using random number generation from complete school lists for each district, then conducted targeted searches of school websites and policy documents. This was done by creating a list of all of the schools in an area and then using the =RAND() function in Google Sheets to make sure no human bias was introduced.

Search Protocol: Each website was searched using internal search functions and manual navigation through policy sections. Search terms included sun safety terminology variations, with results categorized by accessibility (easy to find, difficult to locate, not available) and policy clarity (comprehensive, basic guidance, minimal mention, absence). “Easy to find” meant accessible via “school name” and “sun policy” through search engines or located on the official website. “Difficult to locate” required extensive searching through archives or meeting minutes. Policy clarity was assessed based on how clearly the policy communicated both the risks of sun exposure and appropriate protective behaviors, using criteria grounded in health literacy principles for elementary-aged children. We evaluated whether the language used was age-appropriate (eg, simple vocabulary, short sentences), whether the policy explicitly identified sun safety risks (eg, UV exposure, sunburn), and whether it described actionable protections (eg, wearing hats, using sunscreen, seeking shade). A policy was considered “comprehensive” if it addressed both risk and protection in clear, child-friendly terms; “basic guidance” if it addressed only one of these elements; and “minimal mention” if it referenced sun safety without offering substantive explanation or instruction. “Not available” (“N/A”) was used when no relevant policy information was found.

Data Collection and Analysis: Information was systematically collected on policy content, accessibility ratings, implementation guidance, resource availability, and gaps between jurisdictional levels. Comparative analysis was conducted to identify patterns and disparities across provinces and between urban and rural settings.

Results

Scoping Review Findings

The comprehensive database search across platforms yielded 96 initial results (Supplemental Figure S1). After removing duplicates and applying inclusion criteria, 6 studies met the criteria for full review and analysis.

Study Characteristics and Geographic Distribution: The included studies spanned from 2005 to 2025, representing research conducted across multiple Canadian provinces. Studies employed diverse methodological approaches including cross-sectional surveys, program evaluations, and policy analyses. Sample sizes ranged from small pilot studies (n = 30) to large provincial surveys (n = 1767).

Key Themes and Interventions: Several recurring themes emerged from the literature analysis (Supplemental Table S2):

Educational Interventions: Multiple studies demonstrated the effectiveness of structured educational programs in improving sun safety knowledge and behaviors. The Gooderham and Guenther (1999) study of 35 London, Ontario schools implemented a comprehensive “Sun and the Skin” curriculum for 215 Grade 4 pupils, resulting in significant improvements in sunscreen, hat, and sunglass use, along with enhanced melanoma knowledge at both immediate and one-month follow-up assessments.⁴ However, persistent misconceptions about “safe tanning” led researchers to recommend combining education with school-wide policy measures such as mandatory hat requirements and enhanced shade provision.

Population-Specific Findings: Several studies revealed concerning disparities in sun safety practices across demographic groups. The Jha et al. (2017) survey of 392 Edmonton pupils across Grades 5, 7, and 9 found that while 71% understood that sun exposure causes cancer, only 44% had received sun safety education at school.⁵ One-quarter of students reported experiencing blistering sunburns, and 46% indicated willingness to use school-provided sunscreen. Caucasian students demonstrated higher rates of intentional tanning and lower use of protective measures, suggesting the need for earlier intervention and culturally tailored approaches.

Policy Effectiveness and Implementation Challenges: The limited number of formal policy evaluations in the included studies revealed significant implementation gaps. The Fergusson (2000) nationwide evaluation of Environment Canada/Health Canada elementary school UV-Index poster programs found high demand for resources and increased UV-risk awareness following the program’s expansion from 3000 to 14,000 schools.⁶ However, initial materials were deemed overly complex, necessitating redesigns to improve clarity and calls for more interactive, visually engaging resources.

Cultural and Behavioral Factors: The Enta and Kwan (1998) cross-sectional study of 332 Hutterite children in central Alberta colonies provided unique insights into cultural influences on sun protection.⁷ Strict religious dress codes covering everything except face and hands were associated with markedly fewer melanocytic nevi (mean 2.34) compared to non-Hutterite peers (mean 8.19). Despite the absence of formal sun safety policies, cultural norms provided highly effective photoprotection, suggesting the potential for culturally adapted policy approaches.

National Baseline Data: Lovato et al. (1998) national survey of 4023 Canadian children provided crucial baseline data on sun protection practices.⁸ The study revealed that 89% of children had 30+ minutes of daily sun exposure, with 45% experiencing sunburns. Sun protection behaviors varied significantly, with only 36% avoiding sun exposure, while 76% used sunscreen. Notable differences existed between younger children (5 years or less) and school-age children (6-12 years), emphasizing the importance of age-appropriate policy interventions and the critical need for enhanced public awareness among parents, school personnel, and childcare workers.

National Public Education Evolution: The Rivers and Gallagher (1995) evaluation of Canadian Dermatology Association public education initiatives demonstrated the evolution and reach of national sun safety campaigns.⁹ The Sun Awareness Program expanded from reaching 6.4 million Canadians in 1991 to 17 million in 1993. The “Living with Sunshine” school program, developed for Grades 1-3 and piloted in 5 provinces in 1992, was subsequently approved as curriculum resources in most provinces. However, the evaluation noted that public education campaigns may not translate into behavior change without stronger policy enforcement, and that screening programs attracted health-conscious individuals but missed high-risk groups, emphasizing the need for policy-level interventions rather than relying solely on voluntary participation.

Jurisdictional Scan Results

The systematic examination of sun safety policies across nine Canadian cities revealed striking disparities in policy accessibility and clarity between provincial health authorities and educational jurisdictions (Supplemental Table S3).

Alberta Assessment: The assessment of six Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB), Red Deer Public School Division (RDPSD), and Fort McMurray Public School Division (FMPSD) elementary schools yielded virtually no school-level sun safety policies. Individual schools including Avonmore, Lee Ridge, Aspen Heights, Glendale Sciences & Technology, Christina Gordon, and Walter & Gladys Hill all returned “N/A” results when local search functions were queried for “sun safety” terminology.

The sole formal educational guidance found originated from the Alberta Ministry of Education K-9 Health & Life Skills Guide to Implementation (2002), consisting of one page within a 600-page compendium. This brief section advised students to limit outdoor activity between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., seek shade, cover skin, and apply broad-spectrum SPF 15+ sunscreen. In stark contrast, Alberta Health Services maintained 2 readily accessible web resources: “UVR Protection: Access to Sunscreen” and “Have Fun in the Sun Safely Toolkit,” offering comprehensive practical guidance and downloadable educational materials. Overall accessibility rating: Alberta Ministry/school board level = difficult; Alberta Health Services = easy.

British Columbia Assessment: District-level guidance existed but demonstrated inadequate translation to individual school policies. Victoria’s Oaklands Elementary yielded a Ministry bulletin titled “Safe and Healthy Schools” (2023), whose heat-wave section recommended sunscreen, hats, sunglasses, and light, breathable clothing. However, searches of Campus View Elementary (SD 61), Pacific Way and Westmount Elementary (SD 73, Kamloops), and Fort St. John’s Robert Ogilvie and Alwin Holland Elementary (SD 60) produced no relevant information.

Provincial government portals provided comprehensive resources, including “Protecting Yourself from Ultraviolet Radiation” (2016), which specifically detailed children’s special vulnerability to UV exposure, and “Tanning Beds” (2017), summarizing British Columbia’s indoor tanning restrictions for minors. Difficulty rating: Ministry or BC government pages = easy; board/school-site searches = difficult.

Ontario Assessment: Sun protection language was embedded within the Ontario Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care School Health Guideline (2018, pages 19-20), which classified both solar and device-generated UV radiation as human carcinogens and emphasized children’s increased vulnerability due to thinner skin and higher lifetime UV dose accumulation before age 18. The guideline noted that children’s underdeveloped skin thickness makes them more susceptible to UV damage. Additionally, children who use device-generated UV radiation, such as tanning beds, face significantly elevated skin cancer risk compared to those without such exposure.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board schools, including Metcalfe Public School and Manordale Public School, showed no local policy results. However, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board demonstrated exemplary resource development, with multiple board-level materials discovered through searches of Westmount Public School and Dr. G.J. MacGillivray Public School:

“Let’s Go to Kindergarten” parent guides (pages 7 and 17) featuring dedicated sun safety sections

“1-2-3 Get Set for Kindergarten” handbook including sun safety reminders

Outdoor Education Centre FAQ explaining required hat and sunscreen policies

Rainbow District School Board’s Lasalle Elementary briefly mentioned planned permanent shade structure installation in a 2016 school improvement document, while Northeastern Elementary yielded no policy results. Cancer Care Ontario maintained an evidence summary titled “Sun-protection policies, programmes and practices” supporting provincial guidelines. Search difficulty assessment: Ministry PDF = difficult to locate; Kawartha Pine Ridge resources = easy; other board sites = difficult or N/A.

Cross-Provincial Patterns: Consistent patterns emerged across all assessed provinces: (1) provincial health authorities maintained comprehensive, easily accessible sun safety resources; (2) ministry of education guidelines existed but were often buried within large policy documents; (3) school board-level policies were inconsistently available; and (4) individual school policies were largely absent despite schools being primary implementation sites.

Discussion

Policy Gap Analysis and Implications

A significant disconnect exists between provincial health guidelines and education-specific policies regarding sun safety in Canadian elementary schools. The findings from our scoping review and jurisdictional scan reveal a fundamental disconnect between the robust public health evidence supporting sun safety interventions and the fragmented, inconsistent implementation of sun safety policies within Canadian elementary education systems. This gap has significant implications for health promotions and equity across Canadian communities.

The Implementation Paradox: While provincial health authorities maintain comprehensive, evidence-based sun safety resources and guidelines, these materials apparently fail to translate into concrete, actionable policies at the educational delivery level. This creates an implementation paradox where the knowledge and tools for effective sun protection exist at the system level but arguably remain inaccessible to the educators, students, and families who must operationalize daily sun safety practices.

The Alberta example illustrates this paradox most clearly: Alberta Health Services provides exemplary sun safety resources that are easily accessible and professionally developed, yet individual schools within major urban districts lack discoverable sun safety policies. This suggests that the barrier to effective sun safety implementation lies not in knowledge or resource availability, but in the translation mechanisms between health policy and educational practice.

Equity and Access Implications: The jurisdictional scan revealed concerning inequities in sun safety policy accessibility across geographic regions and school district resources. Well-resourced districts like Kawartha Pine Ridge demonstrated comprehensive sun safety integration across multiple parent communication channels and program materials, while other districts in the same province showed minimal or absent policy development.

These disparities likely reflect broader patterns of educational resource allocation and policy capacity, suggesting that sun safety policy gaps may disproportionately affect students in under-resourced districts. Given that skin cancer risk is influenced by cumulative UV exposure throughout childhood, these policy inequities may contribute to long-term health disparities across Canadian communities.

Comparison with International Evidence: Our findings align with international research demonstrating similar challenges in sun safety policy implementation within educational settings. Australian research, conducted in a context with higher baseline UV exposure but more comprehensive national sun safety policies, has shown that systematic policy approaches combining environmental modifications (shade structures), behavioral interventions (education and reminders), and policy requirements (hat mandates) produce more sustained behavior change than education-only approaches (Fergusson 2000; Gooderham and Guenther 1999).^4,6

The success of Australia’s SunSmart program, which integrates government policy, school requirements, and community education, provides a valuable model for addressing the policy gaps identified in our Canadian analysis. Australian research has demonstrated that comprehensive school sun safety policies can achieve population-level behavior change while maintaining educational flexibility and local adaptation (Rivers and Gallagher 1995).⁹

Effectiveness of Documented Interventions: The Canadian studies included in our scoping review consistently demonstrated that well-designed educational interventions can improve sun safety knowledge and behaviors among elementary school students. However, the sustainability and scalability of these interventions appear limited without supporting policy infrastructure.

The Li et al. Edmonton study exemplifies this challenge: while the intervention demonstrated statistically significant improvements in shade-seeking behavior, the study’s limited sample size prevented detection of significant effects for other sun protection behaviors. The small scale and resource requirements of even this limited intervention suggest that achieving comprehensive improvements across large school systems would require substantial systematic policy support and resource allocation.¹

Similarly, the Gregory Vancouver study’s finding that comprehensive interventions (education plus behavioral cues) produced more sustained behavior change than education alone supports the need for multilevel policy approaches that address both individual knowledge and environmental/policy factors.⁴

Practical Policy Recommendations

Provincial Level Recommendations

Integrate Sun Safety Requirements into Education Legislation: Provincial education acts should explicitly include sun safety as a mandatory component of school health and safety policies, similar to existing requirements for emergency preparedness and infectious disease management.

Develop Standardized Implementation Guidelines: Provincial ministries of education should collaborate with health authorities to develop standardized sun safety implementation guidelines that provide specific, actionable requirements for school boards while allowing for local adaptation.

Establish Funding Mechanisms: Dedicated funding streams should be established to support sun safety infrastructure (shade structures, sunscreen provision) and program implementation, particularly for schools serving vulnerable populations.

School Board-Level Recommendations

Mandatory Sun Safety Policy Development: All school boards should be required to develop and publicly post comprehensive sun safety policies that address outdoor activity scheduling, protective equipment requirements, sunscreen access, and emergency procedures for extreme UV conditions.

Professional Development Integration: Sun safety education should be integrated into mandatory professional development for teachers, particularly those involved in physical education, outdoor education, and recess supervision.

Parent and Community Engagement: School boards should develop standardized communication materials and engagement strategies to involve parents and community partners in sun safety policy implementation.

Individual School-Level Recommendations

Environmental Modifications: Schools should conduct UV risk assessments of outdoor spaces and implement appropriate environmental modifications, including portable shade structures, scheduling modifications during peak UV hours, and designated sun-safe zones.

Policy Integration into Daily Operations: Sun safety considerations should be systematically integrated into daily school operations, including outdoor activity planning, field trip protocols, and special event management.

Student Leadership and Education: Schools should develop age-appropriate sun safety education curricula and create opportunities for student leadership in promoting sun-protective behaviors among peers.

Cross-Jurisdictional Coordination Recommendations

National Sun Safety Standards: Federal health authorities should work with provincial partners to develop national sun safety standards for educational settings, similar to existing frameworks for school nutrition and physical activity.

Research and Evaluation Infrastructure: Systematic mechanisms should be established to evaluate sun safety policy effectiveness and share best practices across jurisdictions, including standardized outcome measures and data collection protocols.

Resource Sharing and Collaboration: Inter-provincial collaboration should be enhanced to share successful policy models, educational resources, and implementation strategies, particularly between jurisdictions with similar geographic and demographic characteristics.

Conclusion and Limitations

This comprehensive review of sun safety policies in Canadian elementary schools reveals a significant and concerning gap between public health evidence and educational policy implementation. While provincial health authorities maintain excellent sun safety resources and evidence-based recommendations, the translation of these guidelines into concrete, actionable policies at school board and individual school levels appears fragmented and inadequate.

Our scoping review identified 6 relevant studies demonstrating that well-designed sun safety interventions can effectively improve knowledge and protective behaviors among elementary school students. However, the sustainability and scalability of these interventions appear limited without comprehensive policy infrastructure to support implementation. The jurisdictional scan across nine Canadian cities confirmed that despite the availability of high-quality health authority resources, most schools lack discoverable sun safety policies, creating apparently inequitable protection for children across different districts and provinces.

Key Contributions: This study provides the first analysis of sun safety policy implementation gaps across Canadian elementary education systems. Our findings contribute to the literature by: (1) documenting the extent of policy fragmentation between health and education sectors; (2) disconnect between suggestion of health services and school policy translation and implementation; (3) revealing significant inequities in sun safety policy accessibility across jurisdictions; and (4) providing evidence-based recommendations for multilevel policy improvements.

Fragmented approaches that rely solely on educational interventions without supporting policy infrastructure are unlikely to achieve sustained, population-level improvements in sun-protective behaviors.

Study Limitations

Several limitations should be considered when interpreting these findings:

Temporal and Geographic Scope: The jurisdictional scan was conducted at a single time point and may not reflect recent policy developments or seasonal variations in policy accessibility. The selection of 9 cities, while representing diverse geographic regions, may well not capture the full range of policy variation across all Canadian jurisdictions, particularly in rural and remote communities.

Search Strategy Limitations: Despite comprehensive database searches, some relevant studies may have been missed due to indexing variations or publication in sources not covered by the selected databases. The focus on English-language publications may have excluded relevant French-language research, particularly from Quebec jurisdictions.

Website Assessment Methodology: The jurisdictional scan relied on publicly accessible website information, which may not reflect internal policy documents or informal practices implemented at school levels. Some schools may have sun safety practices that are not formally documented or easily discoverable through web searches.

Policy Content Analysis: The assessment focused primarily on policy accessibility rather than comprehensive content analysis of existing policies. Future research should examine the quality, comprehensiveness, and evidence-base of existing sun safety policies in greater detail.

Implementation Evaluation: This review did not assess the effectiveness of existing policies or their implementation fidelity. Research examining the relationship between policy characteristics and actual sun safety practices in school settings is needed to inform more targeted policy recommendations.

Stakeholder Perspectives: The analysis did not include primary data collection from key stakeholders including teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Understanding stakeholder perspectives on barriers to sun safety policy implementation would strengthen future policy development efforts.

Quality of Available Evidence: A critical limitation of this review is the limited quality and strength of available evidence. For example, the Li et al. study, which is referenced throughout this analysis, had inadequate sample size to detect statistically significant differences in most outcomes beyond shade-seeking behavior. The paucity of high-quality, adequately powered studies examining sun safety interventions in Canadian elementary schools significantly limits the strength of conclusions that can be drawn from the existing literature. This highlights the urgent need for well-designed, adequately powered research to inform evidence-based policy development.

Despite these limitations, this research provides critical evidence for the need to address sun safety policy gaps in Canadian elementary schools and offers a foundation for future research and policy development initiatives. The findings support the need for coordinated, multilevel policy approaches to ensure equitable sun protection for all Canadian elementary school children.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 – Supplemental material for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies by Andy D. Lee, Joshua Yi, Nicholas Lum, Nicholas Chronis, Grace Xiong, Joony Hong, Liz Dennett, Sebastian Straube and Marlene Dytoc in Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-2-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 – Supplemental material for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies by Andy D. Lee, Joshua Yi, Nicholas Lum, Nicholas Chronis, Grace Xiong, Joony Hong, Liz Dennett, Sebastian Straube and Marlene Dytoc in Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-3-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 – Supplemental material for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies

Supplemental material, sj-docx-3-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies by Andy D. Lee, Joshua Yi, Nicholas Lum, Nicholas Chronis, Grace Xiong, Joony Hong, Liz Dennett, Sebastian Straube and Marlene Dytoc in Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-4-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 – Supplemental material for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies

Supplemental material, sj-docx-4-cms-10.1177_12034754251391806 for Sun Safety Policies in Canadian Elementary Schools: A Comprehensive Scoping Review and Jurisdictional Scan of Canadian Provincial Government Policies by Andy D. Lee, Joshua Yi, Nicholas Lum, Nicholas Chronis, Grace Xiong, Joony Hong, Liz Dennett, Sebastian Straube and Marlene Dytoc in Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery

Footnotes

Author Contribution

ADL: Lead author and primary manuscript writer; conducted screening and data analysis. JY: Conducted systematic screening and data extraction. NL: Conducted systematic screening and data extraction. NC: Conducted screening, resolved extraction discrepancies, and provided analytical support. GX: Edited manuscript and prepared figures/graphs. JH: Edited manuscript and prepared figures/graphs. LD: Developed search strategy and created Supplemental Table S1. SS: Provided methodological oversight, supervised systematic review process, and completed PROSPERO registration. MD: Provided clinical oversight and expertise on dermatological conditions and information.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethics Approval/ Statement

An ethics statement is not applicable because this study is based exclusively on published literature.

Patient consent

Not applicable.

Data availability

The data underlying this article are available in the article and in its online supplementary material.

ORCID iDs

Andy D. Lee

Grace Xiong

Supplemental Material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

References

Mathura

Hagtvedt

Dytoc

Sun safety in elementary school: trialing strategies for keeping children protected. J Cutan Med Surg. 2023;27(6):657-658. doi:10.1177/12034754231211329

Sowah

Fan

Dennett

Hagtvedt

Straube

Vitamin D levels and deficiency with different occupations: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):519. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4436-z

Cao

Childhood sunburn and risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer: a Mendelian randomization study. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023;30(58):122011-122023. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30535-3.

Gooderham

Guenther

Sun and the skin: evaluation of a sun awareness program for elementary school students. J Cutan Med Surg. 1999;3(5):230-235.

Jha

Ghosh

Smylie

Taher

Sun-smart practices amongst school students (grades 5, 7, and 9) in Alberta, Canada. J Cutan Med Surg. 2017;21(2):137-144.

Fergusson

Environment Canada’s children’s UV index sun awareness programme. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2000;91(1-3):317-322.

Enta

Kwan

TY.

Melanocytic nevi in sun-protected Canadian Hutterite children. Arch Dermatol. 1998;134(3):379-381.

Lovato

Shoveller

Peters

Rivers

JK.

Canadian national survey on sun exposure and protective behaviours: parents’ reports on children. Cancer Prev Control. 1998;2(3):123-128.

Rivers

Gallagher

RP.

Public education projects in skin cancer: experience of the Canadian Dermatology Association. Cancer. 1995;75(2 Suppl):661-666.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.14 MB

0.54 MB

0.01 MB

0.03 MB