Improving diet and nutrition

Introduction

While the links between some lifestyle factors such as smoking and certain cancers such as lung cancer have long been recognised, the links between diet and various cancers have been made much more recently. Although diet may not play a role in the development of all cancers, it is estimated that around one third of cancers are related to diet (Doll and Peto, 1981). In particular, diet has been recognised as contributing to the development of cancers of the colon, rectum, stomach,
lung, and prostate. Obesity, particularly central obesity, where body fat is deposited around the waist and abdomen, increases the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, and being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing endometrial cancer (DH, 1998).

Diet is therefore a risk factor for the development of some of the most commonly occurring cancers in
England. Improving people’s diets is an important public health measure, not only to reduce the rates of cancer but other diet-related chronic conditions such as coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

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