There has been a significant increase in the cases of skin cancer throughout the world in the last few decades. Although the mortality rate of skin cancer is relatively low, its impact on other health aspects is high and the treatment of undesired aesthetic damage is costly. According to disability-adjusted life year rates (DALY), 1.5 million days are estimated to be lost from people’s lives every year worldwide due to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The purpose of this study was to raise sun health awareness levels among health services vocational school students. A total of 414 students were included in the analysis. A questionnaire form was used to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and behaviours among the survey sample. The average level of knowledge concerning the effects of the sun was found to be 8.64 ± 2.5 out of 15 points. All socio-demographic factors were analysed, but the only significant variables found were age and the possible presence of skin cancer within the immediate family (p < 0.05).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate smoking prevalence and factors associated with smoking among students at the Physical Education and Sports School of Istanbul University. A cross-sectional study was performed on total of 373 students who have been continuing their education at the school from February to March 2011. A total of 166 responders were male (44.5%) and 207 responders were female (55.5%) out of 373 participants. Of the 373 students, 94 (25.2%) were current smokers and the average age for beginning smoking was 18.03 ± 2.6 (min: 12–max: 30). In this study, we found that the smoking prevalence associated with some variables such as age place of residence, mother’s education, father’s education, cigarette or tobacco use in the living place, knowledge status of students about their teacher’s smoking habits and alcohol consumption (p ≤ 0.05). These findings suggest that the students, who will train the sportspeople of the future, and should be considered a role model of healthy behavior in society. Consequently, we believe that sports school students should take an active role in providing health education programs to increase their awareness about the detrimental effects of smoking and to extensively quit smoking in public.