Obesity, poor nutrition, and physical inactivity are major risk factors for cancer, second only to tobacco use. For the majority of Americans who do not smoke, the most important ways to reduce cancer risk include maintaining a healthy weight and eating well. That’s why the Great American Eat Right Challenge is taking place on August 14, giving everyone a chance to closely examine their nutritional habits and what they can do to improve them.

This year’s Great American Eat Right Challenge is designed to help Americans make the right food choices by arming them with helpful information. The web site provides tips and tools to help people take the steps they need towards better health through healthier diets, helpful tips, and habits like portion control.

The Eat Right Challenge is the ’nourish’ component of the Society’s Great American Health Challenge. The Health Challenge is a yearly initiative that encourages Americans to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors to reduce their cancer risk. It is divided into four areas important to wellbeing: check, move, nourish, and quit. ’Check’ what screenings are right for you and get them done, ’move’ more by increasing physical activity, ’nourish’ yourself by adopting healthy eating habits, and ’quit’ smoking.

"Most of us know that smoking is bad for us...but most of us aren’t aware that being overweight or obese also significantly increases the risk of cancer. Since most Americans today do not smoke, that makes nutrition and physical activity one of the most important things people can do for themselves to decrease their risk of cancer," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, ACS Deputy Chief Medical Officer.

Being overweight can increase one’s risk for developing many cancers, including cancer of the breast among post-menopausal women, colon cancer, esophagus cancer, and kidney cancer. Despite these facts, statistics show that more than half the adult population in every state is overweight.

According to the American Cancer Society’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention, a healthy diet with an emphasis on plant sources is important. That means:

• Eating five or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.
• Choosing whole grains in preference to processed (refined) grains.
• Limiting consumption of processed and red meats.

Beyond just offering tips and tools to help make healthy eating a part of daily life, the Society’s Great American Eat Right Challenge provides resources to help make incorporating these important behaviors fun and enjoyable, and therefore achievable.

Visit www.cancer.org/greatamericans to join your American Cancer Society in the Eat Right Challenge, and learn to make healthy lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of cancer.