Children’s health

A young girl playing with her mother Research shows that more than 40% of the 88,000 cancers diagnosed each year in Australia can be prevented by establishing healthier lifestyles early in life. Limiting children's exposure to risk factors will greatly reduce the long-term incidence and economic cost of cancer.

There are simple steps all parents can take themselves and encourage their children to take to reduce cancer risk:

Not use tobacco of any kind
Maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly
Ensure children get vaccinations against cancer-causing infections
Limit overexposure to the sun and UV radiation.

The Cancer Council is involved in initiatives to help reduce the risks posed by unhealthy behaviours developed early in life. These initiatives include preventing smoking uptake through Quit, encouraging skin cancer prevention through SunSmart and implementing HPV vaccination through PapScreen.

Other initiatives include:

The Parents Jury – a web-based network of parents who wish to improve the food and physical activity environments for children in Australia.
Kids – ‘Go for your life’, which recognises that childhood is a time when children learn knowledge, skills and behaviours that affect them throughout life and may have important health effects.
Obesity Policy Coalition, which is investigating policies and regulations that may help to reduce overweight and obesity, particularly in children. More information about child health and obesity is at the International Union Against Cancer.
Pull the Plug is a campaign run by the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children to reduce advertising of junk food.

Information about children with cancer, and how children cope when a parent has cancer, is on our Cancer and children pages.