Australian newspapers have been misleading readers about the importance of sun safety practices by exaggerating the benefits of vitamin D and glorifying sun exposure, a study suggests.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney and Notre Dame University have reviewed more than 200 print articles published between 2000 and 2017 containing the terms ‘skin cancer’, ‘vitamin D’ and ‘melanoma’.

Readers are often misled about safe sun exposure and even encouraged to abandon sun safety practices altogether, according to their research.

More than half of the articles (59%) reported that insufficient sun exposure was causing widespread vitamin D deficiency, whereas only one-third of reports informed readers about the negative health effects of excess UV radiation exposure.