The World Health Organisation data reports state that women in the UK are 17 per cent more likely to develop cancer than the European average, and that this is mostly due to lifestyle. According to the latest estimates about one in four British women will develop cancer by the age of 75 compared with about one in five across Europe.
Key factors to reduce risk of cancer include the following
- Being more physically active
- reducing alcohol consumption
- breastfeeding
- keeping to a healthy weight - see The Links Between Diet, Obesity and Endometrial (Womb) Cancer – Diagnosis & Treatment
- not smoking
All the above can minimise the risk of a number of cancers.
Although the UK has a higher than average rate of cancer incidence, it is only the seventh highest. Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Iceland have higher rates. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and about forty per cent of cases could be prevented through the adoption of a better lifestyle. Despite the evidence of the protective qualities of breastfeeding only a small number of women in the UK breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six months.
