The amount of research showing the connections between obesity and cancer has grown immensely in the past few years. Obesity is associated with colorectal, kidney, liver/gallbladder, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers in both men and women; stomach and prostate cancers in men; and postmenopausal breast, endometrial, uterine, and ovarian cancers in women (Hursting, 2012).
I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Hursting share the research he is doing with his team at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke at the Oncology Nursing Society’s Annual Congress in April 2013, where he actually said that obesity is a bigger contributor to cancer than tobacco. I was so shocked when I heard that, I had to put it in writing! I thought nothing could be more beneficial to one’s health behaviors to prevent cancer than quitting smoking. However, based on the new findings about obesity and cancer, perhaps eating a nutritious diet and engaging in physical activity is of the utmost importance.
NOEP has a new educational activity Nursewise: Nutrition and Physical Activity, which gives a comprehensive overview of what every nurse should know in order to educate his or her patients on the topics of diet and exercise. The course also reviews the new American Cancer Society’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. Check it out at www.noep.org and receive 1.0 contact hour of Continuing Nursing Education.
–By Carol Cannon, BSN, RN, OCN
Hursting, S.D. (2012). Minireview: The Year in Obesity and Cancer. Molecular
Endocrinology, 26(12), 1961-1966.
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