Saving lives with sun-safe school uniforms

Studying sun exposure in primary school students

In the early 1990s, when very little skin cancer research had been conducted in Northern Australia , Simone joined a research team that studied sun exposure in primary school students. The team was curious to find out if children in Townsville had more pigmented moles than children from southern cities like Melbourne or Sydney.

The research team was stunned by the results. “All of the six-year-old children we examined in Townsville already had pigmented moles. They had very high numbers, much higher than what we'd seen in Sydney,” says Simone.

The team went on to study younger children from Townsville. They confirmed that the children definitely developed their pigmented moles earlier, and in higher numbers than children from Australia’s south. As the number of moles a person has is the most important risk factor for developing melanoma, this was a sobering research outcome.

Keeping children safe with better daycare uniforms

Also in the 1990s, Simone and her co-workers conducted a sun-safe clothing trial in Townsville daycare centres.  They created a special ‘daycare uniform’ that consisted of T-shirts with elbow-length sleeves, knee-length shorts and legionnaire hats with a back flap. The children also received a long sleeve swim-shirt, a long sleeved Lycra suit and legionnaires hats for home use.

Later, the scientists compared the results to children from other daycare centres in Townsville. “It was clear that the children in the clothing group developed fewer moles than kids that wore their own clothes to childcare,” says Simone.

Sun-safe school uniforms for all Australian children

This research helped the Department of Education and Queensland Health to make recommendations for school uniforms that children would not instantly rebel against.

The recommendations included collared shirts that cover at least three quarters of the way down the upper arms to the elbows, shorts that extend at least halfway down the thigh, and wider brimmed hats, some of which have neck flaps.

“It’s a step in the right direction where we have passive sun-protection in the form of sun-safe school uniforms,” says Simone. “It is comforting to think that Queensland kids are now going to school a bit more covered up.  And it’s important that it happens to all of them at once, so nobody's comparing themselves, saying ‘oh, you know, I like my outfit better than your outfit’.”

Looking into the future, Simone has started working on an artificial intelligence project with JCU’s Dr Dmitry Konovalov and a team from the University of Southern Queensland.

At some point, the software will be able to automatically determine how much of a body is actually covered, for example when it comes to measuring a new school uniform.

Previously, Simone says, she was measuring garments by hand. “This was, of course, a bit of a slow approach. But once we have automated the process, it will make the assessment of garment coverage so much quicker.”

This means that in the near future, people might be able to see on a clothing label how sun-safe their shirts or pants actually are.

Saving lives with better sun protection

Australia has always been in the forefront of skin cancer research, setting standards for better skin protection. “It just seems like a positive approach that Australia and New Zealand, the two countries with the highest rates of skin cancer and melanoma in particular, would be paving the way for better standards in terms of sun protective clothing,” says Simone.

Only the future will tell how many lives Simone and her fellow researchers will be able to save with their improved school uniforms. However, they will certainly improve the quality of life for many young Queenslanders who won’t have to go through having as many skin cancers removed from their bodies as their parents today.

Tips for getting into skin cancer research

Simone says that skin cancer research attracts a wide variety of people. “We have people interested in medical research that come from a range of backgrounds: nursing, medicine and the allied health professions.

“Quite a lot of medical graduates are now motivated to be involved in research that is relevant to their community.”

For those who are interested in getting into skin cancer research, Simone suggests that, “JCU’s Master of Public Health is well worth considering because then people get the foundations that that are required in epidemiology, biostatistics and project planning.”