AICR
February 4th is World Cancer Day – “Cancer Prevention: Together We Can” Highlights Need to Work Together for Healthy Changes Shown to Lower Cancer Risk
WASHINGTON, DC – To mark World Cancer Day on February 4th and the start of Cancer Prevention Month, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is leading a partnership of organizations and associations in a bold awareness campaign that urges Americans to take evidence-based action to lower their risk.
With hundreds of thousands of cancer cases preventable every year through diet, activity and weight control, AICR’s 2016 Cancer Prevention: Together We Can awareness campaign spotlights the need for individuals to be supported in their efforts to make healthy lifestyle changes.
The campaign invites individuals to share the everyday actions they’re taking with friends and family to lower their cancer risk, and support one another online.
Overcoming Barriers
AICR estimates that fully one-third of the most common cancers in the US could be prevented if Americans moved more, weighed less and ate more healthfully. That’s about 340,000 cancers every year that never have to happen. Add in not smoking and avoiding sun damage, and that figure climbs even higher – nearly half of US cancers could be prevented by changing our everyday habits.
“We’re excited to kick off Cancer Prevention Month with this empowering message,” said AICR’s Head of Nutrition Programs Alice Bender, MS, RDN. “And this year we’re joined by other health experts and organizations who are helping us take that message to more people than we could reach on our own.”
The Cancer Prevention: Together We Can campaign builds upon a new AICR survey asking respondents which cancer-protective changes they’ve already made, and which they have not. The survey reveals the top reasons given for not taking the kind of actions that have been shown to lower cancer risk. A news release and the survey can be found here.
In February, millions of Americans will see AICR’s Cancer Prevention: Together We Can public service announcement on television and in magazines. The PSA uses colorful, dynamic text-based graphics to educate viewers about the links between everyday choices and cancer risk, and sends them to AICR’s CAN PREVENT website.
There, people will find a host of interactive content and can download a free CAN PREVENT Action Planner, filled with a month’s worth of specific, evidence-based actions they can take to help protect themselves, their friends and their families from the most common U.S. cancers.
A Call To Share Stories — Together
“This year, we’re going beyond telling you what to do to lower cancer risk,” said Bender. “We’re inviting you to show us the steps you are taking to live for lower cancer risk.”
“AICR research shows that being active, eating smart and staying at a healthy weight make a real difference in cancer risk – but sticking with it is key,” said Bender. “Healthy choices do get easier when friends, family and co-workers are in it with you. That’s why we want Americans to share their stories and, we hope, inspire others to put our evidence-based advice into action.”
Individuals can join the conversation on social media using the using the hashtag #cancerprevention. People can become part of the ongoing discussion on AICR’s Facebook page and twitter, and upload videos on to YouTube, using the hashtag.
The chief sponsor of AICR’s 2016 Cancer Prevention: Together We Can campaign is Yakima Fresh, a partnership of fruit growers, packers and shippers in the Pacific Northwest.
“As an organization dedicated to providing Americans with healthy food choices, Yakima Fresh is proud to sponsor this important campaign to raise awareness and show people how to live for lower cancer risk,” said Steve Flashing, Yakima Fresh’s Director of Marketing.
Support for the campaign also came from NutriSavings, whose nutrition database and mobile app connect employees’ healthy shopping decisions with financial incentives and educate them on nutritious choices, making for a healthier workforce.
“NutriSavings is proud to be a sponsor of AICR’s 2106 Cancer Prevention: Together We Can campaign,” said NutriSavings President and CEO, Gerard Bridi. “Our technology helps people shop and eat healthier, and rewards them for doing so. Ultimately, both NutriSavings and AICR’s campaign are about educating people on better-for-you food choices, and how healthy nutrition behaviors can lead to an improved, healthier lifestyle. It’s a dynamic partnership.”
Among the organizations who have joined AICR’s 2016 Cancer Prevention: Together We Can campaign and share it’s life-saving information:
• The American Association of Naturopathic Physicians
• The American College of Lifestyle Medicine
• The American College of Preventive Medicine
• The American Society for Nutrition
• The Blue Cure Foundation
• California Walnuts
• Cancer For College
• Careers through Culinary Arts Program
• Cary Medical Center
• The Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation
• Four Seasons Healthcare Consultants
• Healthy Dining Finder.com
• The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association
• Latinas Contra Cancer
• LessCancer.org
• Meatless Monday
• Men’s Health Network
• Merkle Response Management Group
• The Obesity Society
• The James: Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Oldways
• The Oncology Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Pink Aroostook
• PROShred Security
• Savor Health
• The American Pulse Association
• The Sean Kimerling Testicular Cancer Foundation
• The Smith Center for Healing and the Arts
• SuperKids Nutrition
ABOUT AICR
OUR VISION: We want to live in a world where no one develops a preventable cancer.
OUR MISSION: The American Institute for Cancer Research champions the latest and most authoritative scientific research from around the world on cancer prevention and survival through diet, weight and physical activity, so that we can help people make informed lifestyle choices to reduce their cancer risk.
We have contributed over $105 million for innovative research conducted at universities, hospitals and research centers across the country. Find evidence-based tools and information for lowering cancer risk, including AICR’s Recommendation for Cancer Prevention, at www.aicr.org.
