Weight Control and Physical Activity

Avoiding overweight and obesity is the best-established diet-related risk factor for cancer. The proportion of people who are overweight/obese is increasing, and the amount of physical activity is decreasing in most populations, including urban populations in many developing countries. The increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity is presumably due to the increasing availability of highly palatable, high-energy foods, and an increasing sedentary lifestyle due to mechanisation of both workplace and leisure activities. Overweight/obesity and reduced physical activity increases the risk of cancers in various organs. Maintaining a healthy body weight and regular physical activity is the second most important way to prevent cancer, after tobacco control.

The suggestions of possible public health actions to tackle these risk factors include the promotion of balanced diets, which are not excessive in energy, and broad education and planning to enable and encourage physical activity during work and leisure. Recommendations and a full discussion of these topics are included in the sixth volume in this series of Handbooks.