Evidence shows that many millions of people in the UK drink more than the recommended limits on a regular basis, and many are unaware of the increased health risks. So this is a welcome initiative.

The advert, part of the Government’s healthy lifestyle initiative Change4Life, highlights the health risks associated with drinking too much alcohol, including increasing the risk of cancer. Its message is that drinking “just a little more than you should” can lead to serious health problems and that the odd glass of wine or pint of beer can easily add up.

At the same time, a Government poll of 2,100 people has revealed that as many as 85% of people questioned did not realise that alcohol is linked to increased risk of cancer. Our Second Expert Report found convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of seven types of cancers, including two of the most common in the UK – breast and bowel.  We also found that the risk of cancer increases from very low levels of drinking, so the more people cut back on alcohol the better. This video explains our recommendation to limit alcoholic drinks.

Awareness-raising campaigns like this are important. People need information so they can make the lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of cancer and other diseases. For example, Change4Life also has tips and advice for cutting down on alcohol and a Drinks Checker where people can find out the number of units in common types of drinks. Supermarkets are also displaying ‘How many units in your drink?’ messages on posters, shelf adverts and till-screens in stores, to help consumers to understand how much alcohol is in their drinks.

However, as we’ve discussed in previous blog posts, it is important to remember that people’s choices are strongly influenced by other factors. For example, the affordability, marketing and promotion of alcohol are key factors.

Many people (including public health leaders) say the Government should tackle these issues first if it wants to address people’s ‘poor choices’.

Ministers are expected to release a new alcohol strategy in the coming months. A recent editorial in The Lancet – a leading health journal – said that “nudging” and “nagging” tactics would not be effective. It encouraged the Government to commit to more effective measures, such as increasing the price and restricting the marketing of alcohol.

We urge the Government to take a leading role in tackling alcohol related harm and not to shy away from more effective measures.

A safe cycling policy has a positive affect on reducing cancer risk

The Times is running a campaign calling for cities to be made safe for cyclists. This is a campaign WCRF wholeheartedly supports because it will promote cycling as a form of transport and physical activity.

Our 2009 Policy Report – which sets out changes that can be made at all levels of society to reduce the number of cancer cases – notes that the built environment profoundly affects lifestyles, most obviously in terms of physical activity.

Levels of physical activity can have an affect on body fatness, which is an important factor in the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. In addition, being physically active alone – independent of any effect on body weight – has been shown to reduce the risk of certain cancers.

The report, Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention, points out that the supremacy of the car helps to create environments where transport such as cycling is “less practicable and often unsafe”.

In a relevant passage, the report says: “The design of cities, transportation systems and buildings in favour of machines can be seen as a great experiment in inducing physical inactivity.”

WCRF recommends that people are physically active for at least thirty minutes as part of everyday life and activities like cycling to work or school are a good way for people to meet this recommendation.

The report concludes that there is “substantial and consistent evidence” that a more balanced approach to making cities safe for pedestrians and cyclists is effective.

And several of our policy recommendations for decision-making groups in society focus on the built environment.

We believe there is a need to prioritise public health in transport and planning policies so that our immediate surroundings contribute to our health.

So making cycling safer will not only reduce the number of road deaths, it will also enable people to be more physically active and will be a step towards reducing the number of cancer cases.

For these reasons alone, we would urge our supporters to pledge their support for The Times’ campaign to help make our cities and towns fit for cyclists.

Raising awareness: World Cancer Day 2012

Today is World Cancer Day and WCRF is happy to support the initiative and raise awareness around the world about cancer prevention.

This year we have been particularly busy helping our colleagues at the Union for International Cancer Control in promoting the target of cutting cancer and other non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart and lung disease by 25 per cent by 2025.

Staff at our London office tried their hand at a bit of movie stardom – with a select few appearing in online videos highlighting our Recommendations for Cancer Prevention. Let us know which one you think is destined for the Hollywood red carpet by tweeting @wcrf_uk

Our global network president Marilyn Gentry posted a special statement of support on our website to highlight the day. And, with the head of Macmillan Cancer Support, she wrote to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley calling on the government to do all it can to improve cancer prevention and control.

We marked the run-up to the worldwide event by holding a special evening reception with the new chairman of WCRF UK’s board of trustees Laurence Isaacson CBE. His contacts in the theatrical world led to the Ambassador Theatre Group helping to raise awareness of World Cancer Day by holding collections on behalf of WCRF UK in its 39 theatres across the UK.

And our press release highlighting the predicted cancer stats around the EU generated a significant amount of media coverage with reports in the Sun, Daily Mirror, Independent, Guardian, Daily Express and Scotsman among others.

There was also coverage on Sky TV, BBC radio and commercial radio.

Understanding why you crave unhealthy foods is one step towards beating them.

If you started 2012 with a resolution to lose weight or give up unhealthy foods, you may be finding it hard to keep to your good intentions.  If that’s the case, understanding why you crave certain (often unhealthy) foods at regular intervals throughout the day is one step towards beating those cravings.

Everyone experiences cravings from time to time.  But why is it that we suddenly want chocolate after a healthy meal?  Why can’t we stop thinking about that packet of biscuits in the cupboard? People often believe that cravings are the body’s way of calling for specific nutrients lacking in your diet, but there is little scientific evidence to back this up.

We usually crave sweet or fatty foods – ones that are considered ‘naughty but nice’. There would once have been an evolutionary advantage to desiring high-calorie, energy-dense foods, to help aid our survival when food was scarce, but such cravings are not as beneficial in modern times, when obtaining these foods is as easy as popping to the shop.

Cravings often have nothing to do with hunger. Instead, emotions like boredom, stress or loneliness can cause us to want foods such as chocolate, biscuits and high-fat snacks. We often believe these foods will make us feel better, perhaps because these are treats that we were given as children on special occasions or to cheer us up.

The occasional ‘naughty’ snack is fine. In fact, it is a good thing to treat yourself from time to time, but frequently snacking on chocolate bars or bags of crisps can lead to weight gain, and this raises your risk of cancer.  It is important that the energy you take in as food is balanced against the energy you use up. Being physically active can help you achieve this balance as it uses up extra calories.

Six tips to control cravings

1. Cravings are sometimes caused by low blood sugar levels. To keep blood sugar levels stable, eat regularly and don’t skip meals. Aim for three sensible sized meals with a couple of healthy snacks in between.
2. Be aware that cravings pass. When you get a craving, wait for 10 minutes before you act upon it. Think of something you can do to distract yourself. Research from the University of Exeter shows that a 15-minute walk reduces the urge to eat chocolate.
3. If your craving doesn’t disappear after 10 minutes, eat a small amount; if you don’t, you are more likely to end up eating more than you would have if you’d given in to the craving to begin with. Do something afterwards to distract yourself from eating more.
4. It is easy to confuse thirst with hunger. If you think you are feeling hungry, try drinking a large glass of water first.
5. Cravings are often stimulated by visual or sensory cues, so avoid displaying foods that you know are going to tempt you.  Researchers from the University of Illinois found that people who kept sweets and biscuits on display were more likely to eat them than people who hid them away.
6. Try brushing your teeth or gargling with mouthwash – a fresh minty taste in your mouth is often enough to crush a craving.

If you are craving… try these healthier snacks instead.

Salty snacks

• Celery sticks with reduced-fat houmous
• Unsalted popcorn sprinkled with chilli powder or herbs
• Unsalted nuts or seeds

Sugar

• A few dried apricots or dates
• A small bowl of red grapes topped with low-fat yoghurt

Fatty foods (eg: pizza, chips)

• Wholemeal pasta with tomato sauce
• Healthy home-made pizza using a wholemeal pitta as a base

Chocolate

• Cocoa made with skimmed milk
• Chocolate-flavoured tea (available from most health food shops)

Keeping lean helps reduce cancer risk

At the heart of World Cancer Research Fund’s (WCRF) message are our 10 Recommendations for Cancer Prevention.

These came about from the Second Expert Report – published in 2007 – and were developed by a panel of 21 international experts looking at nearly 7,000 research studies from all over the world.

Certain foods, drinks and lifestyle factors were judged and the panel came to a conclusion about whether a particular factor was linked to cancer, as well as the strength of that link. This data was pulled together to form the 10 Recommendations.

The first Recommendation is be as lean as possible without becoming underweight. This means aiming for the lower end of the healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) range – between 18.5 and 25.

Maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your risk from cancer after not smoking and it also helps prevent other serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

Where excess weight is stored on the body is also crucial, with a bulging waistline proving especially harmful as it acts like a ‘hormone pump’ – flooding the body with hormones linked to bowel and other cancers.

The evidence around cancer and obesity is stronger than ever so we know it is important for people to ‘keep the weight off’.

But, like most things in life, this is easier said than done.

Below we’ve outlined some of the best methods of sticking to a healthy weight.

• Choose foods lower in calories or, as scientists prefer to put it, energy density. This term describes how many calories foods have in relation to their weight (usually per 100g). Lower energy dense foods can be just as filling as high density ones but contain a fraction of the calories.
• Be physically active. Everyone knows the importance of exercise but staying active doesn’t have to mean gruelling gym work-outs. Anything that burns calories is good – so walking, housework and gardening are all examples of physical activity. Everyone should aim to do at least half-an-hour a day.
• Avoid fast food and sugary drinks. This takes us back to energy density again – both of these contribute to weight gain, especially if consumed frequently and in large portions.
• Watch your portions. Too much of any food – even low calorie items – can lead to weight gain so only eat when you’re hungry and try to stop before you feel full.

The important thing to remember is that any step in the right direction will reduce your cancer risk. Cutting down on the foods likely to put weight on you is a positive, no matter how much you reduce it by. This also means you don’t have to cut out the foods you love entirely, so if you enjoy a weekly portion of fish and chips on a Friday night you can continue with this treat – as long as these kind of foods don’t make up most of your diet.

WCRF has some great ideas for recipes to inspire people on how to prepare healthy and delicious dishes.

While we won’t pretend that it’s easy to stick to a healthy weight, there are little changes we can all make to our lives and reduce our chances of getting cancer.

Health professionals could provide lifestyle advice

The government recently received a report calling for GPs, nurses and other health professionals to do more to help people make lifestyle changes such as being more physically active or eating a healthier diet.

In line with WCRF’s Policy Report recommendations, NHS Future Forum calls for the promotion of healthy living to be a core part of the day-to-day business of NHS staff in a policy dubbed ‘make every contact count’.

Millions of people come into contact with health professionals every day, which is a great opportunity to provide advice on health living, including the benefits of healthy diets, weight management and regular physical activity.

This may well raise accusations of ‘nanny-statism’ among some and bodies such as the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing feel people could be put off visiting their GPs’ surgery if they anticipate criticism. But while many will argue that cutting down on unhealthy foods or going for a brisk walk around the local park are obvious measures and don’t need promoting by doctors, there are many areas where the public is uninformed and could do with some help.

WCRF supports a move to make information more widely available to people so they know how to make the changes necessary to cut their risk of developing diseases like cancer.

For example, a recent parliamentary report on alcohol found many people have difficulty understanding alcohol unit guidelines. The report suggested that people should have at least two days a week without alcohol. Health professionals would be in an ideal position to provide this kind of information.

As lifestyle-related illnesses are on the rise it is apparent that people need all the help they can to let them make healthy choices and our publications have found that people can benefit from such information.

But it’s important to remember that choices are strongly influenced by other factors such as education and poverty and many say the government should be tackling these issues rather than lecturing people on their ‘poor choices’.

So, while health professionals have a role in public health and are in a unique position to give advice, politicians need to address issues such as poverty that have a huge impact on our health.

Fibre can protect against cancer

This week scientists funded by World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) found that eating ten grams of fibre daily lowers women’s risk of breast cancer by five per cent.

And as the effect is cumulative, eating 20 grams would mean a ten per cent lower risk and so on.

The research – part of WCRF/AICR’s Continuous Update Project (CUP) – is one of the largest analyses of literature relating to breast cancer and fibre and was published in the Annals of Oncology this week.

The CUP is the ongoing review of cancer prevention research carried out for WCRF/AICR by independent scientists at Imperial College, London.

In this analysis they looked at 16 relevant population studies focusing on breast cancer and dietary fibre intake. Previous examination of the available research had found too little evidence to make any conclusion.

There are several possible explanations as to how dietary fibre may prevent breast cancer, such as reducing the amount of circulating estrogen. Fibre may also help with weight control, a known risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer.

Last May, the latest CUP report concluded that there is convincing evidence that fibre protects against bowel cancer.

The new data on fibre and breast cancer will be reviewed by a panel of experts later this year to assess it against other evidence and decide how, if at all, if affects WCRF/AICR’s current recommendations for cancer prevention.

Breastfeeding is good for both mother and baby

New research from Cambridge University that babies fed on formula milk cry less than breastfed infants because they are effectively “comfort eating” may not surprise many mums.

Reaching for the bottle can be an easy, and understandable, short-term solution when your child won’t stop crying.

The Cambridge research, highlighted by the BBC and the Guardian among others, shows that breastfed babies cry more, laugh less, and generally have “more challenging temperaments” than their formula-fed contemporaries.

But as the scientist who led the study, Dr Ken Ong, points out: “Bottle-fed babies may appear more content, but research suggests that these infants may be over-nourished and gain weight too quickly. Our findings are essentially similar to other stages of life; people often find that eating is comforting.”

The Department of Health and WCRF recommend that mothers feed their babies exclusively on breast milk for the first six months – for both the child’s and mother’s health.

We understand that breastfeeding can sometimes be a frustrating and challenging experience for some mums, which is why it’s important that women who want to breastfeed have access to the right information and support.

Research compiled by WCRF shows that breastfeeding not only protects the mother against breast cancer, it also means the child is less likely to become overweight in later life – one of the most important cancer risk factors after smoking.

Aside from these cancer-related benefits, breastfeeding also gives babies nutrition tailor-made for each individual child which contains antibodies and hormones to aid development.

Breast milk protects infants against some infections and tummy upsets, as well as eczema and other ailments. It’s also a great way for mums and babies to bond with each other, and it’s free and readily available!

For all these reasons we would encourage new mothers to stick with breastfeeding. The NHS and National Childcare Trust can both provide advice or you can consult your GP.

Choosing less energy dense food can reduce cancer risk

Last month World Cancer Research Fund commissioned a survey by YouGov to try to assess what people really know about the number of calories in the foods they eat on a regular basis.

Today these results were published in several national newspapers – the Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Times, Metro and i – as well as featuring on Sky News, BBC London and Heart FM.

The poll was also reported by the Press Association and a number of regional newspapers around the country.

The survey showed some disturbing trends, such as a general lack of knowledge about the relatively high level of calories in foods such as ‘light’ mayonnaise and houmous, with around two-thirds of adults underestimating the calorie levels.

As Maya Monteiro, our Senior Education Manager, said: “Despite decades of increasing awareness about calories and healthy eating, it seems a lot of people are still confused about the calorie content of everyday foods. This troubling lack of understanding is perhaps not helped by labels such as ‘light’ and ‘reduced fat’ when these are applied to foods which still have a high calorie content.”

To help inform people about the energy density of different foods and drinks, WCRF has launched an Energy Density Calculator where visitors can search for a specific food from a drop down menu or enter the calories listed on the food label to find out if the food is low, medium or high in energy density.

WCRF UK attended the BACC in Westminster

Last week I attended the Britain Against Cancer Conference in London. For WCRF UK this was a really important event and was a key opportunity to highlight the role of food, nutrition and physical activity in cancer prevention.

Macmillan Cancer Support organised this conference on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, with the support of MPs and Members of the House of Lords. It was hugely successful in getting all the key cancer organisations, health professionals and patients together in one room and provided great access to policy makers.

Because of current NHS reforms, much of the focus was on cancer care. However, during a Q&A session, I took the opportunity to quiz Health Secretary Andrew Lansley on his approach to public health and, more specifically, how he plans to tackle obesity.

Obesity is an important risk factor for cancer. Throughout his speech Mr Lansley emphasised his commitment to prevention but passed over the Government’s response to obesity very quickly. I asked him about his response to the heavy criticism of his obesity policies, both in the media and by public health experts.

The Obesity Call to Action and the Responsibility Deal – his flagship programmes for engaging with the private sector on public health issues – have been widely panned for lacking ambition. Central to this is the lack of government accountability for the obesity epidemic and the absence of any plans to address the underlying causes of obesity. His preference for voluntary approaches – where the food industry sets its own standards – is particularly worrying to those working for concrete progress in areas such as marketing to children.

In his response, Mr Lansley said he had no desire to legislate a framework for calorie reduction and would continue to engage with the food industry about voluntary action on obesity, which he says will be faster and less burdensome. He also stated that the Responsibility Deal is not designed to set the policy agenda but act as a forum for voluntary action. Yet, in the absence of any other substantive policies on obesity at the national level, the Responsibility Deal is steering policy by default.

More welcome contributions on cancer prevention came from Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham and Dr Frank Atherton, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health.  Mr Burnham highlighted the crucial role of primary prevention in helping to tackle the increasing burden of cancer in the UK. He called for stronger government action on obesity to help people make lifestyle choices that decrease their risk of cancer, including regular physical activity. He criticised the Government for cutting free public swimming and urged them not to squander the golden opportunity for sports in the UK in the run-up to the Olympic games.

In contrast to Mr Lansley’s approach, Dr Atherton said he would prioritise upstream interventions. By anticipating and modifying the harmful effects of certain situations and behaviours, you can stop cancer before it starts. He called for a focus on social inequalities to support prevention, by tackling lifestyle factors – such as unhealthy diet – that disproportionately affect poorer communities and influence their risk of developing certain cancers. These are the sorts of messages and commitments that we are looking for at WCRF UK – a solid approach to public health that recognises the influence that social context can have on our health.

I was pleased that prevention was discussed during the conference, as this shows it is increasingly viewed as an important priority. I was also pleased to have the chance to engage with other cancer charities on the prevention agenda – Cancer Research UK has done a great job in highlighting some of our core messages through its latest research and this got a good reception at the conference. Hopefully, we’ll see some dedicated space at these sorts of conferences in future to specifically address cancer prevention. Watch this space!