According to a new Cancer Research UK report published today, 75% of people in the UK are unaware of the link between obesity and cancer. The nationwide survey found that men from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are even less likely to know about the link. The poorest knowledge of a link was with ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancer, while 60% of those surveyed knew the association with bowl cancer and 55% with liver cancer.
Being overweight or obese is one of the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking and is linked to around 18,100 diagnoses each year. A recent report by cancer research UK and the UK Health Forum estimated that if current trends continue, then there will be an estimated additional 670,000 new cancer cases in the next 20 years as a consequence of being overweight and obesity.
Alison Cox, director of prevention at Cancer Research UK, said "It's the governments responsibility to inform the public of the link and also to take action to tackle the obesity epidemic, starting with the health of the nation's children. It's great the Government's childhood obesity plan includes a sugary drink tax, but it's not enough to curb the rising tide of ill-health"
Hooper L, Anderson A, Forster A, Rosenberg G & Vohra J (2015) Public knowledge of the link between obesity and cancer. Cancer Research UK.
Being overweight or obese is one of the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking and is linked to around 18,100 diagnoses each year. A recent report by cancer research UK and the UK Health Forum estimated that if current trends continue, then there will be an estimated additional 670,000 new cancer cases in the next 20 years as a consequence of being overweight and obesity.
Alison Cox, director of prevention at Cancer Research UK, said "It's the governments responsibility to inform the public of the link and also to take action to tackle the obesity epidemic, starting with the health of the nation's children. It's great the Government's childhood obesity plan includes a sugary drink tax, but it's not enough to curb the rising tide of ill-health"
Hooper L, Anderson A, Forster A, Rosenberg G & Vohra J (2015) Public knowledge of the link between obesity and cancer. Cancer Research UK.
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