Cancer Prevention Blog

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

Are we failing to see the truth?

Following today’s report, which proposes Governments get tough on obesity, we look at recent research, which suggests that a skewed perception of body weight may also be a barrier to effective weight loss.

Obesity-related illness

Recently published figures on obesity, physical activity and diet show that around a quarter of adults in England were obese in 2009 [1]. Today’s report suggests this figure is set to rise in the UK to 40% by 2030.

The … Continue Reading

Obesity: a cancer risk factor

A new report that includes obesity statistics for the European Union makes depressing reading.

It has found that 25% of adults in the UK are obese, which is the highest proportion in Europe.

The European Union average is 15%, with other poorly performing countries including Ireland, Malta, Iceland and Luxembourg.

There are, of course, lots of reasons why high obesity levels are bad news. But from our perspective, higher levels of obesity … Continue Reading

Fruits and vegetables: probably reduce cancer risk

You may have seen an article in the Daily Mail about a new book by Zoe Harcombe on the obesity epidemic.

The article runs through Zoe’s ‘myth-busting’ conclusions.

Looking at her overall message, Zoe basically disagrees with the advice you would get from mainstream health organisations. The result of this is that people are likely to become confused.

This is why it’s unhelpful for this sort of advice to be … Continue Reading

Being overweight increases cancer risk

The second talk this morning from Professor W Philip T James gave a fascinating look at obesity across the world and the challenges this poses in terms of the burden of ill health and premature deaths from diseases such as cancer.

It was interesting to hear that, although we may have slowed the rise of obesity in the US and the EU, rates are still growing at a phenomenal rate in other parts of … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

Newspapers and cancer risk

You might have seen an article in the Metro today about a new study suggesting that overweight girls may be at lower risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

The cancer prevention Policy Report World Cancer Research Fund published last year made recommendations for the media and, to be fair, this article has at least put this study into context.

After all, it does get across the point that, looking at all … Continue Reading

This week is National Breastfeeding Awareness Week and a great opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding and to support mothers.

Scientists have found consistent evidence that breastfeeding protects against premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer. Based on this scientific evidence, one of our 10 Recommendations for Cancer Prevention is that women should aim to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months, and then continue with complementary breastfeeding after that. This is in line with advice from the Department of Health and the … Continue Reading