Obesity to overtake smoking as main cancer killer

New research has suggested that obesity is rapidly closing up on smoking as the primary cause of most cancers.

It’s not that smoking has become any safer, just that there’s a growing health risk from the rapid rise in the number of us becoming overweight.

Currently one in five cancer deaths is caused by obesity, compared to one in four from smoking, but scientists believe that those two lines will cross within the next decade.

Smoking is thought to be responsible for a quarter of Britain’s 160,000 annual cancer deaths. Dr Jennifer Ligibel of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University said obesity could surpass that figure in 10 to 15 years as the population gets fatter.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The Secretary of State has already mentioned that tackling obesity and diabetes will be one of his major priorities for the new government term.”

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