Shroff Hemal, Diedrichs Phillippa C, Craddock Nadia
Centre for Health and Social Sciences, School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.
Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Front Public Health. 2018 Jan 23;5:365. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00365. eCollection 2017.
The use of skin fairness products that frequently contain toxic ingredients is associated with significant adverse health side effects. Due to the high prevalence of use in Asian and African countries, skin fairness product use is recognized as a growing public health concern. The multi-million-dollar skin fairness product industry has also been criticized for perpetuating racism and social inequalities by reinforcing beliefs about the benefits of skin fairness for cultural capital. No quantitative studies have assessed people's beliefs about fairness and reasons for using or not using these products in India, one of the largest global markets for skin fairness products. The current study explored skin fairness product use among 1,992 women and men aged 16-60 years in the city of Mumbai, India using a self-report questionnaire. A total of 37.6% of the sample reported currently using skin fairness products, with women being two times more likely to use these products. Among current users, 17% reported past experiences of adverse side effects, and "Media/TV/Adverts" were the most common prompts for using fairness products, followed by "Friends" and "Family." Men were significantly more likely than women to endorse beliefs about fairness being more attractive and were more likely to perceive family and peers as viewing fairness as beneficial for cultural capital. There were no differences between women and men currently using products in their desire to look as fair as media celebrities. Among non-users, women were significantly more likely than men to report concerns about product efficacy and side effects as reasons for non-use, while men were significantly more likely to report socioeconomic reasons for non-use. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of growing public health concerns about the use of fairness products, and potential for advocacy and public health interventions to address the use of skin fairness products.
经常含有有毒成分的皮肤美白产品的使用会带来严重的不良健康副作用。由于在亚洲和非洲国家这类产品的使用十分普遍，皮肤美白产品的使用已被视为一个日益严重的公共卫生问题。这个价值数百万美元的皮肤美白产品行业也受到了批评，因为它通过强化皮肤美白对文化资本有益的观念，使种族主义和社会不平等长期存在。在印度这个全球最大的皮肤美白产品市场之一，尚无定量研究评估人们对美白的看法以及使用或不使用这些产品的原因。本研究使用自填式问卷，对印度孟买市1992名年龄在16至60岁之间的男女进行了调查，以探究皮肤美白产品的使用情况。共有37.6%的样本报告目前正在使用皮肤美白产品，女性使用这些产品的可能性是男性的两倍。在当前使用者中，17%报告有过不良反应的经历，“媒体/电视/广告”是使用美白产品最常见的诱因，其次是“朋友”和“家人”。男性比女性更倾向于认同美白更具吸引力的观点，也更有可能认为家人和同龄人将美白视为对文化资本有益。在目前使用产品的人群中，男女在希望自己像媒体名人一样白皙的愿望方面没有差异。在非使用者中，女性比男性更有可能报告担心产品功效和副作用是不使用的原因，而男性则更有可能报告不使用的社会经济原因。鉴于公众对美白产品使用的健康担忧日益增加，以及开展宣传和公共卫生干预措施以解决皮肤美白产品使用问题的可能性，本文讨论了这些研究结果的意义。
