Being obese is more likely to give you some cancers than cigarettes, according to a leading charity, and there are now nearly twice as many obese people in the Scotland as there are smokers.
While smoking is still the leading preventable cause of most cancers, carrying excess weight causes more cases of kidney, liver, bowel and ovarian cancers, according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
Overall, studies have shown obesity is a causal factor in 13 different types of cancer.
The figures are partly a result of fewer people smoking – around 1,100,000 Scottish adults are now obese, of whom 158,000 smoke. Meanwhile 640,000 Scots smoke but are not obese.
The charity says obese people in the UK now outnumber smokers by two to one while the figure in Scotland is 1.7 to one.
CRUK said the figures justify its claim that more has to be done to help people lose weight. Obesity causes around 1,900 more cases of bowel cancer per year than smoking and 1,400 more cases of kidney cancer. Every year there are also 460 more cases of ovarian cancer and 180 more cases of liver cancer linked to obesity than there are to smoking.
Nearly one in three adults in the Scotland (29 per cent) are obese according to national data, while a third more are overweight. By the age of five one in ten children in the UK are obese. By the time they reach 11, that rises to one in five.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said obesity was undermining health gains as more people quit tobacco: “As smoking rates fall and obesity rates rise, we can clearly see the impact on a national health crisis when the Government puts policies in place – and when it puts its head in the sand,” she said. “Our children could be a smoke-free generation, but we’ve hit a devastating record high for childhood obesity and now we need urgent Government intervention to end the epidemic.”
CRUK is calling for bans on junk food adverts online and before the TV watershed, and restrictions on promotional offers on unhealthy food and drink.
Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s head of external affairs in Scotland said : “There isn’t a silver bullet to reduce obesity, but the huge fall in smoking over the years – partly thanks to advertising and environmental bans – shows that government-led change works. The Scottish Government must make it easier for people here to live a healthier life. A commitment to introduce laws to restrict the junk food multibuy price promotions that tempt us to eat too much would go a long way to helping us to do a healthier shop.”
CRUK’s current advertising campaign will see posters with images inspired by old fashioned cigarette packs will be on display at prominent sites across Scotland including at Glasgow Central Station, as well as on bus shelters throughout Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh. However the it has already faced a social media backlash, with some users accusing it of encouraging fat-shaming and promoting a ‘nanny state’.
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