Cancer Prevention: WHO Report says diet is critical
The World Health Organization caused alarm for some recently by releasing a report showing that we’re woefully unaware of the link between cancer and diet or lifestyle.
In the WHO report, researchers stated that new cancer cases might reach 25 million per year in the next two decades, according to The Guardian. That’s a frightening 70 percent increase over current levels and suggests that we need to make some radical changes to our cancer prevention approach.
The organization cited high sugar consumption, alcohol abuse, and obesity as prime suspects in developing certain cancers, suggesting that half of the predicted cases could be prevented with diet or lifestyle changes.
Preventable Causes
According to the WHO report, the major sources of “preventable” cancer are smoking, infections, obesity, alcohol, air pollution, and radiation.
The chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society added some specifics to those facts: as reported in HTR News, he noted that “bad diet, obesity, and physical inactivity account for 28 percent” of cancers, with smoking accounting for 33 percent.
Bad diet and obesity
Bad diet, obesity, and physical inactivity account for 28 percent of cancers. (Shutterstock)
According to the American Cancer Society’s website, obesity in particular increases the risk of breast, colon, rectum, endometrium, esophagus, pancreas, and kidney cancers. This occurs because the body, in response to carrying more weight, produces extra estrogen and insulin, both of which have the potential to “stimulate cancer growth.”
Other explanations, from Cancer Research UK, suggest that fatty tissues produce an enzyme called aromatase, which affects hormonal balance, again increasing the risk of cancer growth. Outside of obesity, alcohol consumption can also increase the chance of developing cancer of the liver, mouth, breast, bowel, and throat.
Unfortunately, the public is relatively ignorant about cancer prevention by way of diet and lifestyle. Almost three-quarters of Canadians polled in 2009 were unaware of the “definite link” between cancer and lack of exercise, with over two-third unaware of the link between cancer and obesity, according to CTV News. More recently, in the U.K., 49 percent of the public reported not being sure whether poor eating habits could increase the likelihood of cancer.
The Western Lifestyle
The “tidal wave” of cancer will affect poor and rich countries alike, though in different ways, according to the WHO report.
Poorer and less developed countries will likely be hit the hardest, especially by those cancers that grow by way of infection, such as cervical cancer. Prevention in those countries must be tailored around screenings, immunizations, and education.
