Community Nutrition Strategies to Prevent Cancer
Primary Prevention of Tumours via Community Nutrition
Page 14 — Background
Background:
- Although our genes influence our risk of cancer, most of the difference in cancer risk between people is due to factors that are not inherited.
- Reasons for the large international differences in the incidence of most cancers are unknown.
- For most people who do not use tobacco, the most important cancer risk factors that can be changed are: body weight, diet, and physical activity. These same behaviours are also linked with a lower risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
- One third of all cancer deaths in the USA each year are linked to diet and physical activity, including being overweight or obese.
Another third is caused by tobacco products.
Community efforts are needed to create an environment that makes it easier for people to make healthy choices when it comes to diet and physical activity.
Although these healthy choices can be made by each of us, they may be helped or slowed by the social, physical, economic, and regulatory environment in which we live. A recent study has found evidence that:
- Low fruit and vegetable intake is associated with cancer of the colon and rectum, stomach, lung, and esophagus.
- Being overweight and obese has been associated with cancer of the uterine body, colon and rectum, breast, gallbladder, and kidney.
Protective Dietary Constituents
Protective dietary constituents: a diet high in fruits and raw vegetables, rich in retinol (preformed vitamin A) and dietary fibre.
Primary Cancer Prevention (Nutrition-Related)
Primary cancer prevention (nutrition-related): weight control through diet and physical activity.
Healthy Diet, with an Emphasis on Plant Foods
- Diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables (and fibre) and lower in fats and meats.
- Avoid blackened, charred, or smoked foods.
- Limit how much processed meat and red meat you eat.
- Eat at least 2 1/2 cups of vegetables and fruits each day.
- Choose whole grains instead of refined grain products.
- Moderate alcohol consumption:
- Drink no more than 1 drink per day for women or 2 per day for men.
Weight Control
- Avoid excess weight gain at all ages.
- Urge obese individuals to lose weight and others not to become overweight.
Physical Activity
- Adults: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week (or a combination of these), preferably spread throughout the week.
- Children and teens: Get at least 1 hour of moderate or vigorous intensity activity each day, with vigorous activity on at least 3 days each week.
- Limit sedentary behavior such as sitting, lying down, watching TV, and other forms of screen-based entertainment.
- Doing some physical activity above usual activities, no matter one’s level of activity, can have many health benefits.
Food Safety and Carcinogens
- Food items may be contaminated by preformed carcinogens (e.g., aflatoxin produced by fungi recently linked to liver cancer in some parts of the world).
- Carcinogens may also be formed in the body by bacteria (e.g., nitrites ingested in food may form carcinogenic compounds by bacteria in the stomach).
Page 15 — Community Recommendations
Community Recommendations: Public, private, and community organizations should work together at national, state, and local levels to apply policy and environmental changes that:
- Increase access to affordable, healthy foods in communities, places of work, and schools.
- Decrease access to and marketing of foods and drinks of low nutritional value.
- Provide safe, enjoyable, and accessible environments and recreation in communities for physical activity in schools and workplaces.