Healthy Veggies (© Photographer: Andrey Armyagov | Agency: Dreamstime.com)

In the fight against cancer government needs to change policies that lead to poor diets and do more to promote healthy lifestyle choices according to a report from the President’s Cancer Panel, an advisory committee to the National Cancer Institute.

Many in the U.S. fear cancer more than any other disease, and with good reason. Cancer claims the lives of more than 500,000 Americans every year. The report from the President’s Cancer Panel says two-thirds of cancer deaths are tobacco related. Unhealthy diets and inactivity are believed to be responsible for the other third.

The list of cancers linked to obesity continues to grow. The ill effect of unhealthy food choices is compounded by the finding that “a quarter of all adults engage in no leisure time physical activity” and “less active adults are at greater risk of developing colon cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure”. Almost two-thirds of Americans are overweight. If current trends continue 74% of Americans will be overweight or obese in 2010.

Among the Panel’s recommendations is a call for the government to coordinate farm subsidies and public health policy to ensure that all people have access to affordable, healthy food. It wants unhealthy foods eliminated from school breakfast lunch programs and effective regulation of food advertising aimed at children.

The Panel also calls for government funding of improvements to the built environment, including sidewalks, safe lighting, playgrounds, and neighborhood design that will encourage people to be more active.

We couldn’t agree more with the Panel that government has an obligation to protect the public health and should “cease being a purveyor of unhealthy foods that lead to disease.”

To read the report cited above go to: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles