February 4 is World Cancer Day

On World Cancer Day, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) will launch “I love my healthy active childhood”. This is the second full-year theme in the “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. The World Health Organization (WHO) states 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 the International Union Against Cancer (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.