Franchise requires parental presence for teen tanning

Starting Monday, Canada's largest chain of tanning parlours will shut down any of its franchises caught tanning kids younger than 16 without their parents present.

The president of Fabutan Sun Tan Studios says the hard line shouldn't be interpreted as support for an outright ban of letting younger teens soak up fake rays.

"I'm a parent and if somebody was to tell me that I was not allowed to tan my 15-year-old child before I went away on vacation and I was willing to be at the location with them every day, I think that would be a violation of my parental right," Doug McNabb said in a telephone interview from Calgary.

Health Canada recommends against young people using tanning salons, but McNabb points out it's perfectly legal for the businesses to serve clients younger than 16.

"When there are no government regulations that have any law against this, it doesn't seem reasonable that private enterprise create that kind of restriction," he said.

"We think we've gone exactly as far as we should."

Franchise terminated on second offence

What were previously just guidelines within Fabutan are becoming company policy, as of Monday. Anyone under 16 who wants to tan must be accompanied by a parent, and 16- to 17-year-olds require parental consent.

If these standards are not met, the franchise will have 10 days to comply with the rules, so the first instance is essentially a warning. After that, the franchise agreement will be terminated.

"I really would hope that the industry would follow suit and self-regulate this issue," McNabb said.

"We want to acknowledge the perception of parents rather than just fighting the issue. We think the perception is real we just don't think it's founded in good science."

The perception he refers to is that tanning causes skin cancer. McNabb refuted the perceptionwith regards to moderate tanning andsuggested more research is needed.

The World Health Organization recommended in 2005 that those under the age of 18 be banned from using artificial tanning equipment. It estimates there are 132,000 cases of malignant melanoma the most dangerous form of skin cancer worldwide each year.

Yet the organization has said it has been difficult to demonstrate any long-term health effects of sunbed use because thelatency period for skin cancer is so long.

McNabb said Fabutan does everything it can to teach teenagers to avoid sunburns and wear sunscreen when outdoors.

While there is no minimum age for tanning at Fabutan, McNabb said the new policy will ensure that parents can supervise and exercise caution with their children's tanning, just as they do with many other activities.