Cancer Prevention Blog

Being overweight increases cancer risk

World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF UK) has had an online body mass index (BMI) calculator for some time.

But today we have launched a revamped version of the BMI calculator that is easier to use.

Previously, people had to enter their weight in pounds to calculate their BMI. But we have changed this to be in stones and pounds.

Once people have calculated their BMI, we have also made it easier for them to find more relevant information, including ideas for healthy recipes.

But why, you might be asking, is BMI relevant to cancer?

The reason is that there is convincing scientific evidence that excess body fat increases risk of six types of cancer, including breast cancer and bowel cancer. This is why for cancer prevention we recommend being as lean as possible without becoming underweight.

In fact, scientists now say that, after not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight is the most important thing you can do for cancer prevention.

This is why it is good for people to know whether or not they are a healthy weight. Measuring your BMI is one way of finding out.

It is important to emphasise that BMI is only a guide to whether you are a healthy weight. It may not be relevant for some groups of people such as bodybuilders or pregnant women.

But it is a useful guide for most people.

And if people are aware they are overweight or obese, it may encourage them to make the kind of simple changes that can help them get back into the healthy weight category.

So why not try our new BMI calculator and let us know if you have any comments about whether it’s easy to use or suggestions about how we can improve it further.