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The British Journal of Cancer has published a report which evaluates the percentage of cancers in the UK that were the result of exposure to 14 common, and for the most part, modifiable lifestyle, dietary and environmental factors. Researchers calculated that some 43% of all new cases of cancer in the UK (approximately 134,000 new cases in 2010) and about 50% of all cancer deaths could be attributed to these lifestyle factors. This is something that many nutritionists and health care practitioners have of course been talking about for quite some time but this report makes for interesting reading as well as providing further scientific validation to this matter.

For men and women the top risky behaviours also had a few surprises in the data. Although tobacco smoking was by far the most important risk factor for cancer in the UK, the relative importance of other exposures differs by sex. For example, in men they found that deficient intake of fruit and vegetables, occupational exposures and alcohol consumption are next in importance, whereas in women, it is overweight and obesity, followed by infectious agents (including HPV virus).