Negative body image ‘may contribute to high rates of indoor tanning among adolescents’ (Picture: File/Alamy)

Teenage men who regularly use sunbeds are more prone to eating disorders, according to a study.

They are also more likely to vomit, take laxatives, diet pills, powders or liquids and fast to control their weight, research shows.

And women who use sunbeds are also more likely to exhibit unhealthy dieting habits, scientists from the New York University School of Medicine warn.

Dr Michael Weitzman said: ‘While the study can’t show a definitive link to eating disorders, it does suggest that teens who use indoor tanning have higher rates of unhealthy weight control behaviours linked to eating disorders.


‘Negative body image may also contribute to high rates of indoor tanning among adolescents, although the mechanism of the association may differ for males versus females.’



About one in four women and one in 20 men reported using sunbeds in the last month, the study of nearly 27,000 teenagers showed.

Males in that group were seven times more likely to vomit or take laxatives, four times more likely to take weight-loss pills, powders or liquids and twice as likely to fast.

Females were a fifth more likely to fast, two-fifths more likely to vomit or take laxatives and more than twice as likely to report taking pills, powders, or liquids.

The study, published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioural Paediatrics, adds to previous evidence linking negative body image and indoor tanning – a major risk factor for skin cancer.

Dr Weitzman added: ‘Greater attention to these issues by paediatricians may help reduce the number of adolescents risking potentially deadly consequences.’