Evaluation of the educational intervention "living with the sun" by preschool and first-year primary school students: a pilot study

Background: "Convive con el Sol" (Living with the sun) is an educational programme to promote education about sun exposure and healthy photoprotection habits among Spanish children. Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of the "Convive con el Sol" school-based sun protection programme on the sun safety habits, attitudes, knowledge, and practices in preschool and first-year primary school students. Materials & Methods: A quasi-experimental pilot study was established with a pre-test/post-test design and without a control group to evaluate the efficacy of the "Convive con el Sol" programme in children aged 3-8 years. Two questionnaires were used to evaluate the programme: the CHRESI questionnaire and the SolSano questionnaire. Results: Seven educational centres participated in the study. The number of completed baseline questionnaires was 351 for the CHRESI survey and 226 for the SolSano survey. After the intervention, the students improved their sun protection practices; fewer students went to the beach or swimming-pool at noon (9.8% vs 5.5%; p = 0.03), and more schoolchildren used cream with an SPF rating >15 (37.6% vs 76.2%; p <0.01) and repeatedly applied sunscreen if continuously exposed (67.4% vs 82.7%; p <0.01). Conclusion: Our findings show that the "Convive con el Sol" educational intervention improved photoprotection practices in children aged 3-8 years, but did not reduce the percentage of sunburned children. This pilot study serves as a starting point for designing educational interventions, targeting students, teachers, and families.