Tanning can be addictive - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

If you've watched the news, you've probably seen the startling pictures of the New Jersey woman nicknamed the "Tanning Mom." Patricia Krentcil's skin is so tanned it almost defies nature. But one former "tanorexic" says she didn't notice she was "too" tanned until her bosses pointed it out.

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey shows a lot of women -- especially those in their late teens and early 20s --  use tanning beds. They hit the tanning salon an average of 28 times a year.

Many of them have heard about the health risk, but they like the way their skin looks.

Jannine Morris says she got darker, and darker, and darker, until she got a wakeup call at work.
   
Morris, founder of Beautysweetspot.com, a beauty and fashion blog, says her tanning addiction started at about age 16.

"When you look in the mirror and you see how much darker you got...it's a mental addiction," said Morris.
 
Tanning addicts like Patricia Kretncil, the New Jersey mom accused of taking her 5-year-old into a tanning bed has recently brought the issue of tanorexia to the forefront. But Jannine says her tanning addiction became an issue when she started her first job as a beauty assistant at one of the most renowned magazines,  Cosmopolitan.
 
"My editor and my director have mentioned several times to me. ‘you know you really need to stop tanning' when I first got the job. They said it's unhealthy and it's really not Cosmo," said Morris.
 
Jannine took her boss' advice seriously and quit tanning.
 
"I still thought back then that I was invincible. I was never going to suffer from fine lines and wrinkles. I was never going to potentially get melanoma,' said Morris.

Like Jannine, many people may not take the threat of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, seriously. But they should.
 
Jennifer Podoll from the American Cancer Society says you may want to think twice before stepping into a tanning bed.
 
"An individual's risk of developing melanoma increases by 75 percent if you go to a tanning salon before you're 30 years old," said Podoll.
 
James Oliver, CEO of Beach Bum Tanning, says he doesn't necessarily believe the statistics.
 
"Statistics can really be put out to say anything," said Oliver.
 
But James says extremists, like the tanning mom, Patricia Krentcil, are giving the tanning industry a bad rap.
 
"When an industry is targeted for those extremes, that's when it becomes unfair because that's not the norm," said Oliver.
 
"For people, you know, might be young and naive or even who are older and still tanning, they really need to just digest the information, become educated and realize that, you know what, they're not invincible," said Morris.

In Georgia, state regulations ban anyone under 14 from using indoor tanning equipment.

Teens between 14 and 18 need written consent from a parent or legal guardian before then can use an indoor tanning facility, and tanning salons are required to post a warning about the dangers of ultraviolet radiation, and provide safety goggles.
"Statistics can really be put out to say anything," said Oliver.
 
But James says extremists, like the tanning mom, Patricia Krentcil, are giving the tanning industry a bad rap.
 
"When an industry is targeted for those extremes, that's when it becomes unfair because that's not the norm," said Oliver.
 
"For people, you know, might be young and naive or even who are older and still tanning, they really need to just digest the information, become educated and realize that, you know what, they're not invincible," said Morris.

In Georgia, state regulations ban anyone under 14 from using indoor tanning equipment.

Teens between 14 and 18 need written consent from a parent or legal guardian before then can use an indoor tanning facility, and tanning salons are required to post a warning about the dangers of ultraviolet radiation, and provide safety goggles.