A new study found Floridians prefer a nice tan over a Big Mac.
Florida now has more tanning salons than it does McDonald's', the Huffington Post reported.
There are currently 1,261 tanning facilities (one every 50 square miles) in the state but only 868 McDonald's. The only business that outnumbers tanning facilities are the 1,455 Bank of America ATMs that pepper the state.
"We were shocked," said Dr. Robert Kirsner, a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine dermatology professor told the Miami Herald. "Even in the Sunshine State, where we get plenty of exposure, the beds are proliferating."
Indoor tanning has been deemed a risky practice for years.
"Indoor tanning is known to cause skin cancers, including melanoma, which is deadly," Doctor Joshua Zeichner, of the department of dermatology at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City who was not involved in the study, told Health. "Despite an increase in public awareness efforts from dermatologists, people are still sitting in tanning beds."
The study found there is one tanning bed for every 15,113 people residing in Florida.
The sunshine state had the second highest rate of skin cancer in the country, researchers are looking at whether or not the increase in tanning facilities has anything to do with the "cancer clusters" around the state, the Miami Herald reported.
Young people are of special concern because skin cancer has been liked to those who tan often before the age of 35.
"We found 100 facilities associated with college dormitories and residences. Many of the facilities are associated with wellness centers and health spas, when it's quite the opposite. They're a health detriment," Kirsner said.
Across the U.S. over a million people use indoor tanning facilities every day; about 70 percent of this number consists of caucasian females between the ages of 16 and 29.
States such as Texas, Nevada, New Jersey and Connecticut have passed indoor tanning regulations over the past year.
