Exercise and Eat Well Says American Cancer Society

[Guest guest]

American Cancer Society Releases New Nutrition and

Physical Activity Guidelines; Recommendations Urge

More Physical Activity, Community Action

ATLANTA, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The American

Cancer Society, the nation's

largest voluntary health organization, announced today

the release of its new

Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer

Prevention. The new

guidelines place more emphasis on the importance of

physical activity for both

youth and adults, and provide a first-time

recommendation for communities to

play a role in improving the health of their

residents.

" People planning to make changes in their diet and

looking to adopt a

healthier lifestyle should be sure to also include a

strong commitment to

regular physical activity, " said Tim Byers, MD, MPH,

professor, Preventive

Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science

Center and national

volunteer for the American Cancer Society. " These

healthier behaviors are made

easier if governments, worksites, schools and

neighborhoods help facilitate

them and provide access to the resources people need. "

According to the Society, nearly one-third of the

more than 500,000 annual

U.S. cancer deaths are attributable to diet and

physical activity habits. The

Society's newest guidelines, similar to earlier

versions, stress adopting a

diet with a wide variety of healthy foods that are

primarily plant-based.

They advise eating five or more daily servings of

vegetables and fruits and

recommend eating whole grains over refined grains for

more nutrients and

fiber. In addition, based on evidence that cancer risk

is influenced by the

type of fat consumed, rather than simply the total

amount, the guidelines

recommend limiting the intake of foods high in

saturated fat. The new

guidelines also urge people to limit their consumption

of alcohol if they

drink at all, and to lose weight if overweight or

obese.

" Maintaining a healthy weight is important to

reduce cancer risk. The most

healthful way for people to do this is to make healthy

dietary choices and to

increase their level of physical activity, " said

Byers. Physical activity

affects cancer risk indirectly, through its role in

helping to prevent

overweight and obesity, and also plays a more direct

role. For example, with

colon cancer, physical activity accelerates the

movement of food through the

digestive system, which reduces the time that the

lining of the bowel is

exposed to potentially cancer-causing substances.

Physical activity's likely

role in breast cancer risk reduction is that it

decreases the amount of

exposure of breast tissue to circulating estrogen.

" Based on this evidence, we encourage people to be

active for at least

thirty minutes on five or more days of the week, "

Byers said. " And children

and teens need to be active at least an hour every

day. "

New to this edition of the Society's guidelines

are recommendations for

changes in communities, workplaces and schools to

ensure that Americans have

opportunities to be physically active and eat

healthfully.

" Physical education in schools, zoning and urban

planning to provide and

promote activity, worksite policies and programs that

support activity are

examples of issues that are critical if people are

going to be successful in

changing their lifestyles for the better over the

long-term, " said Colleen

Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical

activity for the American

Cancer Society.

Every five years, the Society works with experts

in the fields of

nutrition, physical activity and cancer prevention to

review current

scientific evidence and develop recommendations that

reflect the best of what

is known about the relationship between diet, activity

and cancer risk.

For information about the guidelines, and to

obtain a copy of " Living

Smart, " the American Cancer Society's guide to eating

healthy and being

active, call toll-free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit the

American Cancer Society

website at http://www.cancer.org.

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