To prevent sunburn, sunscreen better than umbrella

Sunscreen prevents sunburns than a large umbrella but neither method was 100% effective

Sitting under an umbrella at the beach is no substitute for using sunscreen, a new study shows.

About 78 per cent of people who used only an umbrella to protect themselves from the sun during a few hours at the beach were sunburned the next day, compared to only 25 per cent of people who used sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 100, researchers found.

But while sunscreen prevented more sunburns than a large umbrella, neither method was 100 per cent effective.

“It’s good to have a holistic approach,” said lead author Hao Ou-Yang. “You need to think