Can sun protection knowledge change behavior in a resistant population?

The future skin cancer statistics for the youth of the United States are staggering. Traditional educational programs are currently the mainstay to foster sun protective awareness for this high-risk, sun-worshipping population. This study was designed to monitor high school students for both short-term and long-term changes in knowledge and attitude, as well as for any change in behavior, following a standard sun protection intervention. Our results demonstrated that although students had an increase in knowledge, it was insufficient to change their behavior.