In 2007 Cancer Council Victoria ran a TV and radio advertising campaign to raise awareness of the proven links between being overweight and cancer, and to encourage all Victorians to maintain or develop a healthy lifestyle.
Our advertisements revealed that a waist measurement of over 100cm for men, and over 85cm for women can significantly increase the risk of cancer, including breast, bowel and aggressive prostate cancers. This information may have surprised many people, perhaps because being overweight has been proved to be a major contributor for many other serious diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, but the link to cancer is relatively new.
We're concerned that many people don't know they're overweight, and consequently, at risk of cancer. So we're now encouraging Australians to identify whether they're overweight and to take appropriate steps to manage their situation.
The first step is for people to measure their waists. People who exceed these measures (100cm for men and 85cm for women) should look at implementing changes to reduce their cancer risk. Our obesity information pack provides some useful information to help you get started. It also contains a tape measure you can use to measure your waist regularly and track your progress.
