“FROM THE 2008 WCRF POLICY REPORT”

In 2007 the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) published the Second Expert Report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective. This report is the most current and comprehensive analysis of the literature on diet, physical activity and cancer. It includes 10 recommendations that comprise a blueprint people can follow to help reduce their risk of developing cancer.

But making these recommendations is just the first step. Equally important is understanding how to achieve them. To this end, a companion publication to the Second Expert Report, Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention, addresses why people practice particular eating and physical activity habits over a lifetime. It looks at the success of studies that have been designed to change those behaviours and it makes recommendations for policy-makers and decision-takers at international, national and local levels. These recommendations, if implemented, will help influence and change the lifestyle choices that people make, reducing their risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. The overarching message of the Policy Report is that public health is everyone’s business and that everyone in society has a role to play.

In this issue, we take a look at the methodology behind the Policy Report, the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to increase vegetable and fruit consumption, and at some of the recommendations and actor groups involved.