Danish tanning culture and the dangers of beauty standards
The Danes can't get enough of the sun and their skin is paying the price.
Denmark’s skin cancer rates are climbing. From 2013 - 2022 tumor incidence rates increased by 172 per cent.
Last year the Danish Research Centre for Skin Cancer released a report that found 22 per cent of Danes will face a lifetime risk for skin cancer.
The Danish Cancer Society (DCS), Kræftens Bekæmpelse, which directly translates to the fight against cancer, is an organisation that works in diagnostic and preventative cancer care.
It released a report in 2023 that stated that 14 per cent of all 15-25 year olds in Denmark have used a tanning bed at least once in the past year.
11 per cent of Danes in that age range have previously used a sun bed, but not within the year.
Mathilde Liberoth is a medicine student and has previously tanned. She says “when I like my looks” she feels happier and tanning helps her do that.
She says that there’s definitely a beauty standard attached to having tanned skin “even more in Denmark than in other countries”.
Christine Lind Tybring from The Danish Sun Safety Campaign, which is part of The Danish Cancer Society, says “unfortunately in Denmark it is trendy to have a tan, especially among young people”.
“For many young people tanned skin is seen as beautiful skin. It is trendy to have tan-lines so you can see how dark your skin has turned after being in the sun,” She says.
It is reported by the DCS that 43 per cent of sunbed users have never been informed about the risks involved with using sunbeds. 63 per cent have never been informed that people under 18 should not be using sunbeds at all.
Denmark’s parliament is planning to introduce a law that bans the use of tanning beds for people under the age of 18.
These measures still fall short of the total bans on tanning beds that exist in Brazil and Australia.
This law is supposed to bring Denmark up to standard with the rest of Europe and discourage the use of sunbeds altogether as many users start tanning as children.
68 per cent of sunbed users first try a solarium before they are 18.
Clubtan is one of the largest sunbed tanning providers in Denmark, with 14 in Copenhagen’s central business district alone.
It also has shops in the United Kingdom but Denmark is their largest market by far.
The accessibility of the tanning salons is another reason for their popularity. There is no need to go out of your way to tan when there are three shops right around the corner from you.
Clubtan offers a subscription service as well as one off tanning experiences. It is also possible to buy a tanning experience as a gift for someone else through a voucher.
Mathilde says that tanning in Denmark is normalised, easy and very cheap “which is why I did it”.
“I used a tanning centre where you just create an account online and you just go and walk in,” she says.
Danmark Statistik states that 32 per cent of current and former sunbed users experienced sun-burn after a tanning session, 16 per cent suffered from rashes and 29 per cent recorded pigmentation changes including white spots.
Christine Tybring from DCS says tanning exposes you to “a big amount of UV- radiation”.
“90 per cent of all cases of melanoma and non-melanoma related skin cancer are caused by UV-exposure. Tanning increases the risk of sunburn in the short term and skin cancer in the long term.
Clubtan said they were not able to comment on the topic.
In 2018, The Copenhagen Post reported that there were 773 solariums in Denmark.
