Category Archives: Prevention Policy

New IOM Report: Solving “The Weight of the Nation”

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This week in Washington, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2012 WEIGHT OF THE NATION conference, the Institute of Medicine released a new report, “Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.”

The report, which is available online (and which includes a link to a nifty infographic) sets out five goals that, if met, would ensure we as a nation don’t falter in our fight against the obesity epidemic:

  • Integrate physical activity every day in every way
  • Market what matters for a healthy life
  • Make healthy foods and beverages available everywhere
  • Activate employers and health care professionals
  • Strengthen schools as the heart of health

The report also urges all sectors of society to work together to achieve these goals.

These goals have been laid out before, in slightly different language, by local, state and federal agencies and health organizations — including cancer charities like AICR (because preventing obesity would mean preventing approximately 100,000 US cancers every year). Continue reading →

Supplements Lowering Cancer Risk: Insufficient Evidence & Guidelines

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If AICR Blog readers represent the US population, almost half of you will reach for a nutritional supplement at some point today. But if you’re taking that supplement to reduce cancer risk, be aware the evidence just doesn’t support that link. And you should have more guidance from government regulators telling you that, argues a commentary published yesterday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In the commentary, the authors reviewed the evidence linking cancer risk to several popular supplements, including vitamin D, beta-carotene and folic acid.

As the authors point out, AICR is among an impressive list of health organization who have reached the same conclusion: there is not yet enough evidence to say that nutritional or phytochemical supplements prevent against cancer.

You can read the abstract of the commentary here.

Continue reading →

AICR Welcomes New “Cancer Prevention Facts and Figures” Report

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Last week the American Cancer Society (ACS) released their annual update of US cancer statistics specifically related to cancer prevention. That report, Cancer Prevention & Early Detection Facts & Figures, turns raw data from cancer registries and other sources into easy-to-understand statistics on cancer incidence and cancer mortality on a year-by-year basis.

This year, the report’s take-home message is the pressing need for collaboration among government, private corporations, non-profit organizations, health care providers and other groups in efforts to prevent cancer.  We at AICR welcome this call, which echoes the conclusions of our policy report. And we are pleased to see ACS citing the AICR/WCRF Expert Report so prominently, in the section titled “Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity and Nutrition”:

Obesity, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition are major risk factors for cancer, second only to tobacco use. One-third of the more than 500,000 cancer deaths in the US this year can be attributed to diet and physical inactivity habits, including overweight and obesity, while another one-third are caused by use of tobacco products.

Although genetic inheritance plays a role in the risk of some individuals developing cancer, non-inherited factors have a larger impact on cancer risk for the population as a whole. Avoiding the use of tobacco products and exposure to secondhand smoke, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically active throughout life, and consuming a healthy diet can substantially reduce a person’s lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer.

In an environment when the public is bombarded with health messages from every quarter — including those hawking products — any instance when different health experts speak in a single clear voice is noteworthy.  We at AICR welcome the new ACS report, because it helps make clear that when it comes to preventing cancer, there is already a consistent, evidence-based message that should rise above the noise:

Eat smart. Move more. Weigh less. And, of course, don’t smoke.