Less than a century ago, most Americans tried to stay out of sun except as necessary to earn a living and put food on the table. As our leisure time increased, we began to vacation on beaches and in exotic locales while wearing less and less clothing.

A tan came to be seen as a status symbol.

Intentional UV tanning means exposing your skin to ultraviolet (UV) rays for the purpose of making your skin darker. When the UV rays come from the sun, this behavior is called outdoor tanning. When the UV rays come from a tanning bed, booth, or sunlamp, it is called indoor tanning.

Any change in skin color after UV exposure (whether a tan or a burn) is a sign of injury, not health. UV rays from the sun and indoor tanning devices can damage the skin. In response to that damage, the skin makes more melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, causing it to darken.

Too much exposure to UV rays can cause skin cancers, including melanoma (the deadliest type of skin cancer), basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. UV exposure also can cause cataracts and cancers of the eye (ocular melanoma). Every time you tan, you increase your risk of getting skin cancer.

Refer to the Infographic below, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to learn more about how to protect all the skin you're in: