Skip to content
Login Register

Obesity and Cancer Awareness Week

13 Oct 2017

Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. Scotland has the worst obesity rates in the UK. Two-thirds of adults and over one-quarter of children are overweight or obese. Excess weight costs NHS Scotland an estimated £600 million a year, with wider societal and economic costs of up to £4.6 billion

.

Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. Scotland has the worst obesity rates in the UK. Two-thirds of adults and over one-quarter of children are overweight or obese. Excess weight costs NHS Scotland an estimated £600 million a year, with wider societal and economic costs of up to £4.6 billion.

That’s why the College supports Obesity and Cancer Awareness Week in order to highlight this serious issue.

Obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. Obesity is linked to 13 different types of cancer, including two of the most common – bowel and breast – and two of the hardest to treat – pancreatic and oesophageal.

Extra fat in the body can have harmful effects, like producing hormones and growth factors that affect the way our cells work. This can raise the risk of several diseases, including cancer.

Yet public awareness is low: only a quarter of Scottish adults know that being overweight can cause cancer.

Scotland’s levels of overweight and obesity are the worst in the UK, and among the worst in OECD countries:

  • Two-thirds of adults, and over one-quarter of children are overweight or obese.
  • Obese children are five times more likely to become obese adults.

Every year, excess weight is estimated to cost up to £600 million to NHS Scotland, and £4.6bn in wider economic impacts of lost productivity and absenteeism. None of the Scottish Dietary Goals on saturated fat, sugar consumption or fruit and vegetable intake have been met in the last 15 years.

You can get more information on this important campaign, and on the work of Obesity Action Scotland in campaigning on this issue, here

Category: Wellbeing


Share this story:

Latest news and statements

Key priority areas

Workforce Recovery and Transformation
Health services in many parts of the world are over-stretched due to workforce shortages, rising demand for services and difficulties in retaining staff.
Read more
Wellbeing
A healthy healthcare workforce is essential for patient care. When the workforce is exhausted, experiencing burnout, and struggling to balance their work and personal lives, it impacts on everyone.
Read more
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
We are committed to standing up for equality, diversity and inclusion. We want our College to reflect the diversity in the NHS workforce and in the patients that we care for.
Read more
Climate Change and Sustainability
Climate change has caused great harm to our planet and warnings of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding will all place a significant burden on our health outcomes.
Read more
Health Inequalities
The health inequalities in our society have been both highlighted and exacerbated by the covid pandemic. There is a need to do things differently.
Read more
COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the lives of healthcare professionals, and the urgent need to learn whilemfocusing on delivering the best care for our patients has been an enormous challenge.
Read more

Topics


Archive


Key links



Contact us

rcpsg@grayling.com
07714307976

Log in

Log in to access your Dashboard, book events, pay your subscriptions and access eLearning material.

Log in

Register an account

New users must register before logging in. You do not need to be a member of the College in order to register.

Register

Help

Having difficulty registering or logging in? Forgotten your username or password?

Get Help