The WCRF’s information was amassed via a report from the charities own ‘Continuous Update Project’ (CUP), which investigates all the latest cancer prevention research studies. The researchers involved in the project say that 63% of all Brits are either overweight, meaning they have a body mass index (BMI) that is higher than 25 or obese, with a BMI over 30. The BMI reading is an estimate of a person’s body fat based on both their height and weight.
However, according to the WCRF, this extra body weight is massively increasing the risk of a whole host of deadly cancers including: bowel, breast, gall bladder, kidney, oesophagus, pancreatic and womb cancer. Added to the risks of different cancers, there are also numerous other chronic diseases that are connected to excess body weight. Possibilities of coronary disease, heart attack, joint problems and kidney failure are just a few of the serious health risks those overweight or obese people may find themselves experiencing.
According to CUP, around one in five (18%) of the 123,000 weight-related cancer cases in the UK can be avoided with necessary action such as adopting simple healthy lifestyle changes, saving a staggering 22,000 lives each year.
The figure of 22,000 includes 7,752 cases of breast cancer, 5,753 incidents of bowel cancer and 2,978 womb-related cancers. In addition, it is estimated that 1,257 cases of pancreatic cancer may be caused by being overweight. To give a better insight into the severity of the issue, according to figures from Cancer Research UK, in 2011 there were in excess of 320,400 people diagnosed with cancer. Clearly something needs to be done to halt the trend, and fast.
Professor Alan Jackson, professor of human nutrition at the University of Southampton and chairman of the CUP panel, spoke on the latest report and said, “A significant number of cancer cases could be prevented by people maintaining a healthy body weight. Through keeping levels of body fat low, a lot of people will avoid getting cancer in the first place – forestalling the pain and anguish associated with the disease.”
Last year academics from Oxford University estimated that 134,000 instances of cancer could have been prevented through lifestyle changes. Smoking still seems to be the biggest killer, accounting for a huge 61,000 of the cases, followed by obesity at 17,000. The academics stressed although their calculations were ‘conservative’, there is a good chance that obesity contributes to a number of different cancers.
After the estimates were published by the academics, Dr Rachel Thompson, of the WCRF, said: “We hope this helps to raise awareness that cancer is not simply a question of fate and that people can make changes today that can reduce their risk. Thousands of cases of cancer in the UK could be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, being regularly physically active and eating a plant-based diet without too much salt, alcohol or red and processed meat.”
Before their latest findings were published, WCRF previously warned that the number of Brits who get any form of cancer is likely to double by the year 2050 unless something is done to stop the problem.
As you saw earlier this year, weight loss surgery such as having a gastric band fitted, is probably not the best option for those carrying a little extra baggage due to the dangerous health risks. Also, many people who go under the knife actually end up piling all the lost weight back on eventually anyway. Perhaps the way forward is by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a scientifically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical or the prescription medication Xenical. Both are available today from Medical Specialists at incredibly low prices.
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