Publish date: 18 July 2022
CMCA has launched a project to reduce the rates of cancer by tackling the issue of obesity and being overweight in Merseyside and Cheshire’s population.
Around 250 health, local authority and voluntary sector professionals joined a webinar launching the Strategic Overweight and Obesity Project to discuss the issue and find out why it is so important in the drive to reduce the incidence of cancer in our communities.
After smoking, excess weight is the biggest modifiable risk factor for cancer and with more people living with obesity and overweight issues than ever, CMCA has partnered with Health Equalities Group – parent charity for healthy weight programme Food Active – to tackle the problem.
The launch event, chaired by CMCA Senior Responsible Officer Dr Liz Bishop, heard from speakers, including a researcher at Liverpool John Moores University who demonstrated the links between excess weight, deprivation and the incidence of cancer across Cheshire and Merseyside.
There was also a powerful presentation from a person living with obesity who shared the challenges, including within healthcare, which they face on a daily basis.
Louise Marshall, Senior Research Fellow at The Health Foundation, was joined by representatives from Onward Homes, Merseytravel, Cheshire and Warrington LEP, and Sefton Council to talk about how the issue was being addressed by stakeholders locally.
There were also presentations from Cancer Research UK, and by Matthew Philpott, Executive Director of Health Equalities Group, who described the next steps for the project.
Jon Hayes, CMCA Managing Director, who outlined to delegates why the Cancer Alliance was leading this project, said: “It was really encouraging to see so many people come together to discuss this incredibly important subject.
“In our drive to reduce the incidence of cancer across Cheshire and Merseyside, it is vital to try to prevent people getting the disease in the first place.
“We know levels of overweight and obesity are rising, including in children, so we need to come together and highlight this as a major cause of cancer. We will be working with many of the professionals who joined the launch event to tackle this issue.
“It will be difficult, as there are many reasons why overweight and obesity is increasing, and we are probably the first cancer alliance to address this head on, but it is necessary if we are to keep people in our communities as healthy as possible.”
A mailout will be sent to all the 340 registered delegates on July 25th with recordings of the presentations and a survey on how they can support the project.
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