Environmental sun protection and supportive policies and practices: an audit of outdoor recreational settings in NSW coastal towns

Abstract

Issues addressed: The results of a sun protection audit of outdoor recreational environments in three NSW coastal towns. Methods: Thirty public swimming pools, beaches, sports grounds and skate parks were visited at two time points before and after summer (October 2009 and April 2010) and audited for the availability of sun protection, supportive polices and signage. Results: There was insufficient shade in more than half (58%) of the observed sites at sports grounds, 49% of areas at beaches and 40% of areas at skate parks with most of these sites relying on natural shade (47?58%). Although pools were more likely to have shade available over most of the observed areas (36%) and permanent shade structures (75%), no shade was observed over any main outdoor pools. Similarly, there was only shade available over one of the main sporting grounds, one main beach and none of the main skate ramps. For other types of sun protection, sunscreen was the most popular product available either for free (nine sites) or for sale (eight sites). All pools had at least one supportive sun protection policy but only two of the total 30 sites had any related signage. Conclusions: This study demonstrates recent findings in relation to the accessibility of sun protection in these settings and the need for health promoting organisations to support and engage councils to invest in more sun protection strategies. The areas of focus should be shade provision particularly at beaches, skate parks and sports grounds; extending the availability of other types of sun protection; and introducing related policies and signage in more sites. Key words: sun protection, shade, local government, environmental health, recreation, public policy, adolescent