Published on 8 June 2022
A pioneering initiative is being launched to prevent cancer by reducing the levels of obesity and overweight across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance is working with Health Equalities Group – parent charity for healthy weight programme Food Active – on a project to lower people’s excess weight, as it is one of the main modifiable risk factors for the disease.
The Strategic Overweight and Obesity Project will establish a network of individuals and organisations that will create awareness campaigns that improve people’s knowledge of the risks of excess weight and help them change their lifestyle to improve their health. It will also work with Liverpool John Moores University researchers to analyse weight levels, cancer rates and deprivation data in Cheshire and Merseyside to see how these interact to drive up the incidence of cancer.
Health Equalities Group will launch the project and network at a free online event on 14th July that is open to the public and non-health organisations, in addition to traditional health stakeholders. The event will include presentations from national organisations such as Cancer Research UK and the Health Foundation, stakeholder groups in Cheshire and Merseyside, and those with lived experience of obesity and cancer
Tracey Wright, Associate Director of Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance, said: “Those who live with obesity or who are overweight face an increased risk of cancer. This project is vital in making people aware of this so they can be supported in lowering their weight and cut the risk of developing the disease.
“Overweight and obesity rates are the second largest modifiable risk factor for cancer, so the overall aim of this project is to reduce prevalence of this across Cheshire and Merseyside.
“We are delighted to be working with Health Equalities Group to launch this initiative. One of the primary tasks for the first year of this project is to form an obesity, overweight and cancer prevention network for Cheshire and Merseyside.
“This will be a hub of connectivity, bringing together system leaders and stakeholders to increase the reach of the project’s initiatives, and we would like to invite people from across the area to join, including clinicians in primary and secondary care and local community organisations.”
Matthew Philpott, Executive Director for Health Equalities Group, said: “We are excited to be working with the cancer alliance on this ground-breaking project addressing overweight and obesity in Cheshire and Merseyside, and we can’t wait to deliver the network launch event in July.
“We know that taking a system-wide approach to lowering levels of overweight and obesity is essential if we are to make any significant progress on this critical agenda. Therefore, we will ensure that a wide range of stakeholders are engaged through the network, including the voices of voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations and the private sector, along with patients and local populations.”
The launch event is online from 2pm to 4.30pm on Thursday, July 14th, 2022. It is free of charge to attend and you can register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lowering-rates-of-overweight-obesity-and-cancer-in-cheshire-merseyside-tickets-352845920647.
For more information, see https://cmcanceralliance.nhs.uk/work/prevention-early-diagnosis/cmca-whole-system-strategic-overweight-and-obesity-project or contact Matthew Philpott by emailing info@hegroup.org.uk