British Public Still Uninformed On The Risk Of Cancer Development In Obese Individuals

In a report on BBC, Cancer Research UK found out that 3 out of 4 people were unaware that obese people are prone in developing 10 different types of cancer. The data was pooled from an online survey of more than 3,000 UK respondents.  UK health officials are questioned on their efficiency of their campaign particularly in disseminating necessary information like this to the public.

This campaign on obesity started when a research surfaced which concludes that obesity contributes in the development of more than 18,000 cases of cancer in the UK annually. There were 10 types of cancer linked to obesity which includes esophageal, liver, breast, gall bladder, colon, prostate, kidney, pancreatic, ovarian and uterine cancer. Among the 10 types, colon, kidney, uterine and post-menopausal breast cancer were the most common.

A person can determine if they are obese based on the ratio of their height and weight or the Body Mass Index. If your BMI value is more than 30, you are considered as obese. Statistics in the UK reveals that quarter of the adult population in the UK is classified as obese.

Cancer Research UK urges the government to take action in the said information deficiency. They also emphasized that a national campaign should be implemented especially to address obesity in children.

"The government acknowledges that marketing junk food to kids is a problem and has removed these adverts during children's programming." Alison Cox, director of prevention at Cancer Research UK said in the BBC report.

Public Health England already launched several programs to address the issue. They are expecting that by 2020, all companies in the food industry will comply with rule to decrease 20% sugar content in their product.

Currently, Cancer Research UK is strengthening its information campaign on the link of obesity to cancer development. CRUK claims that obesity is the most preventable single cause of cancer next to smoking. They are also urging the government to implement policies, like banning junk food TV ads and a tax increase for drinks with high sugar content, to implement their campaign in a national scale.