World Cancer Day

PSA: In brief, the message is fat kids will get cancer. So tell them to eat right and play.

Wednesday, 4 February 2009, is World Cancer Day!

On World Cancer Day, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) will launch “I love my healthy active childhood”, the second full-year theme in our “Today’s children, tomorrow’s world” cancer prevention campaign.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is rising dramatically among adults and children around the world.

According to the World Health Organization, 1 billion adults are overweight, and at least 300 million of these are clinically obese.

The International Obesity Taskforce estimates that one out of every ten school-age children is overweight. Of these, around 30-45 million children, that is 2-3% of children aged 5-17, are obese.

Being overweight or obese has been shown to increase the risk of cancer among adults.

World Cancer Day 2009 marks the start of a year-long campaign, where UICC will work with parents, teachers and decision-makers around the world to encourage kids to eat a healthy diet, be physically active and maintain a healthy body weight.

For more information about World Cancer Day and the World Cancer Campaign, contact the UICC.