Britain mirroring US in prevalence of ‘lifestyle cancers’

The way people in the UK are living their lives is contributing to the number of cases of cancer diagnosed, in much the same way as in the US.

New research from the World Cancer Research Fund has revealed that while lifestyle-related cancers in the US were sourced back to high obesity rates, in the UK they were just as high due to the amount of alcohol consumed.

Professor Martin Wiseman estimated in the study that around a third of cases of the most common cancers in the UK could have been prevented through healthy eating, physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight.

He suggested that although the proportion of body fat-related cancer cases in the US remains higher than in the UK, the margin between the two statistics is small.

Prof Wiseman said: “Because we read so much about America’s problems with obesity – people may find it surprising that the proportion of cancer cases related to diet, physical activity and weight is just as bad here.”