Cancer Prevention Blog

Iona in fat suit training!

Many of us know that there is a link between cancer and body fat. There is strong evidence to show that a person’s level of body fatness is directly related to their risk of getting bowel, breast, womb, pancreatic, kidney and oesophageal cancer.

Iona Taylor is a dietician and supporter of ours from Chester. She decided to draw attention to the link between cancer and weight by wearing a weighted body suit that simulates what it would be like for … Continue Reading

There is promising evidence that two-day diets can be effective for some

There has been a flurry of media interest surrounding two-day diets recently, with the BBC’s Horizon featuring the 5:2 intermittent diet and the publication and serialisation of The 2-Day Diet (co-authored by WCRF grant panel member Dr Michelle Harvie).

Maintaining a healthy weight is an important way of reducing our risk of cancer and we tend to warn people away from ‘fad diets’. So, are these two-day diet plans just … Continue Reading

Duty on sugary soft drinks could pay for kids' health schemes

Today’s call by Sustain for a £1billion Children’s Future Fund to improve children’s health and environment is supported by WCRF.

Sustain, the food and farming charity, has produced a detailed proposal showing how a 20p a litre tax on soft drinks could create a ring-fenced fund controlled by an independent body.

There are many arguments in favour of this development.

Perhaps the most obvious is health. Britain is the fat man of Europe, with one in four … Continue Reading

Media coverage helps cancer awareness

It’s been a busy start to 2013 for WCRF with national media coverage surrounding two important cancer prevention topics, alcohol and sedentary behaviour.

Last week saw blanket coverage of our press release on the calorie content of alcoholic drinks. We highlighted the fact that, for an average drinker, ten per cent of daily calorie intake comes from booze. This means anyone who wanted to lose a few pounds after the Christmas splurge should … Continue Reading

Food labelling should be clear from next summer

The government has taken a big step today towards insuring that shoppers can walk into any major supermarket, pick up an item of food or drink and quickly and easily assess its nutritional content.

The introduction of a consistent front-of-pack labelling system is something World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has been seeking for a long time as part of the fight against rising rates of obesity and we welcome its introduction next year.

The voluntary system (it cannot be mandatory because … Continue Reading

My view of the opening speeches at WHA 2012

The World Health Assembly is the biggest event in the global health calendar. At the start of this week, delegates from 194 member states, as well as thousands more from NGOs and other interested parties, arrived in Geneva to discuss the health challenges facing the world.

Among those gathering beneath the French Alps were myself and WCRF International’s director of science and comms Dr Kate Allen.

For WCRF, this year’s assembly has been particularly important, as … Continue Reading

Food choices are affected by Government policy

News that the Government’s Responsibility Deal is floundering just 12 months after it was launched is sad, but not unexpected.

Unfortunately the deal – which aims to tackle barriers to healthy eating – relies too heavily on the good will of food producers and manufacturers.

On the first anniversary of the deal, consumer campaigning group Which? has assessed the scheme and has found it wanting.

Among the shortcomings of the … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

Obesity: how can we reduce it?

The new Government obesity “call to action” makes a lot of the right noises.

It correctly identifies the obesity crisis as “probably the most widespread threat to health and wellbeing in this country”.

But any hope we had that it was going to set out a positive plan for tackling the problem ended when we got to the part where it explains how the Government favours “interventions towards the less intrusive end … Continue Reading

Today WCRF has been addressing the strange situation in hospitals where vending machines packed with energy dense foods sit in the corridors used by patients suffering from heart disease, cancer and other diseases in which being overweight is a factor.

Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science at WCRF, wrote an article for BBC News’ online health column Scrubbing Up in which she pointed out how the machines packed with chocolate, crisps and sugary soft drinks are undermining the hard work of dedicated health workers.

This is because there is strong evidence that excessive body fat is a risk factor for … Continue Reading