A balanced lifestyle today lowers your cancer risk for tomorrow – CANSA

It is almost mid-year already, and your New Year’s Resolutions for 2018 long forgotten, but it is never a bad thing or too late to take stock of where you are at, with regards to important life goals, possibly the most significant of these being your health goals. After all, the old saying is true, “Health is Wealth”.

CANSA agrees with the World Cancer Research Fund’s findings indicating that if you work towards the three goals below, you will reduce your cancer risk by a third:

  1. Eat Smart (a wholesome, balanced diet, including what you drink)
  2. Maintain a healthy body weight (SA has the highest occurrence of obesity in sub-Saharan Africa, including children and teens)
  3. Be physically active (World Health Organisation has determined that 47 % of SA adults have insufficient levels of physical activity)

Not only will you lower your risk for several cancers, but also your risk for other non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. Read media release: English | Afrikaans

Exercise outdoors

April 2018: Lorraine Govender (CANSA’s National Advocacy Co-ordinator), was interviewed by Adri Kotze (Africa Editor Centre for Health Journalism – Mail & Guardian).

CANSA was asked to respond to the Cancer Research UK’s latest research, published earlier this year, regarding lifestyle factors which could contribute to an increased cancer risk, and comment on how this pertains to South Africans. Read more…

Balanced Lifestyle Slideshow

Slideshow – How to Live a Balanced Lifestyle

Lifestyle Infographic

Infographic – Tips to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Smart Lunch
Active Kids

What YOU Can Do:

1.     Life is hectic – avoid making last minute trips to the local ‘fast food’ outlet, by preparing meals in advance where possible. Cook a double portion healthy, balanced meal, eat one and freeze the other.
2.     Reduce your portion sizes – eat three healthy meals a day – don’t starve yourself and wolf down an enormous portion later.
3.     If you didn’t prepare it right, salt will NOT make the meal taste better, only salty! Use alternate herbs to add flavour food, limiting salt to 1 tsp per day (per person…)
4.     Bring ingredients home that won’t tempt you to eat unhealthily. Choose healthy snack options instead, to still the hunger pangs. If you don’t put it in the shopping cart, you’re not likely to start…

Healthy options
 5.     Avoid food high in fat, sugar and low in fibre. Eat less red meat (beef, lamb, pork), replacing it with fish, poultry, beans, lentils and soya products, and avoid processed meats (ham, bacon, salami, etc).
Exercise

6.     Do aim to eat at least 2 ½ cups of veggies / fruit per day, adding wholegrains and pulses where possible
7.     Plan lunch boxes for school and work instead of buying meals at the tuckshop or canteen – find super lunch box tips here in our CANSA Smart Lunch Box Planner, which includes recipes…
8.     What you drink counts too – avoid sugary drinks such as fizzy sodas and alcohol. Drink unsweetened, pure fruit juice (diluted). Increased sugar intake is linked to obesity and alcohol consumption increases your cancer risk.
9.     Teach kids to prepare healthy, balanced meals from the start (instead of giving your toddler a sugary biscuit, opt for a carrot stick…)
10.     Encourage your children to play physical games: hop scotch; skipping; take them to the park, or play areas designed to get them moving and strengthening their muscles. Make exercise a family affair…

Healthy options
11.     Get up, choose to move, use the stairs, stretch, join neighbourhood sport groups or ones that encourage physical activity. You can also find out more about our CANSA Active programme – be active and healthy – having some Feel Good Fun, while raising awareness and funds for CANSA and the fight against cancer in SA.
12.     Limit your screen time, or time on digital devices which encourages less physical activity.
Smart Lunch
 What Your COMMUNITY Can Do:

Community efforts are essential in creating an environment that encourages healthy food choices and physical activity. Community members can make their voices heard in the following ways:

1.     Lobby for healthier food options offered at schools, educational institutions, or in the workplace

Healthy options
2.     Encourage and empower community members to grow their own fruit and vegetables
3.     Community members or service providers can donate healthier food options to organisations supporting poorer community members
4.     Lobby for safe places where community members can walk, run, ride their bicycle, etc
Take part in events

5.     Encourage events that provide the opportunity to be physically active or start or support a club which does so
6.     Provide opportunities for recreation that do not revolve around sedentary, passive behaviour
7.     Community members or service providers can donate play equipment encouraging the development of motor skills, or help local schools (play schools through high schools) to improve sports facilities

It’s ALWAYS time to take stock of your health.
Invest in your health now by living a balanced lifestyle.

A balanced lifestyle today lowers your cancer risk for tomorrow – CANSA

It is almost mid-year already, and your New Year’s Resolutions for 2018 long forgotten, but it is never a bad thing or too late to take stock of where you are at, with regards to important life goals, possibly the most significant of these being your health goals. After all, the old saying is true, “Health is Wealth”.

CANSA agrees with the World Cancer Research Fund’s findings indicating that if you work towards the three goals below, you will reduce your cancer risk by a third:

  1. Eat Smart (a wholesome, balanced diet, including what you drink)
  2. Maintain a healthy body weight (SA has the highest occurrence of obesity in sub-Saharan Africa, including children and teens)
  3. Be physically active (World Health Organisation has determined that 47 % of SA adults have insufficient levels of physical activity)

Not only will you lower your risk for several cancers, but also your risk for other non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. Read media release: English | Afrikaans

Exercise outdoors

April 2018: Lorraine Govender (CANSA’s National Advocacy Co-ordinator), was interviewed by Adri Kotze (Africa Editor Centre for Health Journalism – Mail & Guardian).

CANSA was asked to respond to the Cancer Research UK’s latest research, published earlier this year, regarding lifestyle factors which could contribute to an increased cancer risk, and comment on how this pertains to South Africans. Read more…

Balanced Lifestyle Slideshow

Slideshow – How to Live a Balanced Lifestyle

Lifestyle Infographic

Infographic – Tips to Reduce Your Cancer Risk

Smart Lunch
Active Kids

What YOU Can Do:

1.     Life is hectic – avoid making last minute trips to the local ‘fast food’ outlet, by preparing meals in advance where possible. Cook a double portion healthy, balanced meal, eat one and freeze the other.
2.     Reduce your portion sizes – eat three healthy meals a day – don’t starve yourself and wolf down an enormous portion later.
3.     If you didn’t prepare it right, salt will NOT make the meal taste better, only salty! Use alternate herbs to add flavour food, limiting salt to 1 tsp per day (per person…)
4.     Bring ingredients home that won’t tempt you to eat unhealthily. Choose healthy snack options instead, to still the hunger pangs. If you don’t put it in the shopping cart, you’re not likely to start…

Healthy options
 5.     Avoid food high in fat, sugar and low in fibre. Eat less red meat (beef, lamb, pork), replacing it with fish, poultry, beans, lentils and soya products, and avoid processed meats (ham, bacon, salami, etc).
Exercise

6.     Do aim to eat at least 2 ½ cups of veggies / fruit per day, adding wholegrains and pulses where possible
7.     Plan lunch boxes for school and work instead of buying meals at the tuckshop or canteen – find super lunch box tips here in our CANSA Smart Lunch Box Planner, which includes recipes…
8.     What you drink counts too – avoid sugary drinks such as fizzy sodas and alcohol. Drink unsweetened, pure fruit juice (diluted). Increased sugar intake is linked to obesity and alcohol consumption increases your cancer risk.
9.     Teach kids to prepare healthy, balanced meals from the start (instead of giving your toddler a sugary biscuit, opt for a carrot stick…)
10.     Encourage your children to play physical games: hop scotch; skipping; take them to the park, or play areas designed to get them moving and strengthening their muscles. Make exercise a family affair…

Healthy options
11.     Get up, choose to move, use the stairs, stretch, join neighbourhood sport groups or ones that encourage physical activity. You can also find out more about our CANSA Active programme – be active and healthy – having some Feel Good Fun, while raising awareness and funds for CANSA and the fight against cancer in SA.
12.     Limit your screen time, or time on digital devices which encourages less physical activity.
Smart Lunch
 What Your COMMUNITY Can Do:

Community efforts are essential in creating an environment that encourages healthy food choices and physical activity. Community members can make their voices heard in the following ways:

1.     Lobby for healthier food options offered at schools, educational institutions, or in the workplace

Healthy options
2.     Encourage and empower community members to grow their own fruit and vegetables
3.     Community members or service providers can donate healthier food options to organisations supporting poorer community members
4.     Lobby for safe places where community members can walk, run, ride their bicycle, etc
Take part in events

5.     Encourage events that provide the opportunity to be physically active or start or support a club which does so
6.     Provide opportunities for recreation that do not revolve around sedentary, passive behaviour
7.     Community members or service providers can donate play equipment encouraging the development of motor skills, or help local schools (play schools through high schools) to improve sports facilities

It’s ALWAYS time to take stock of your health.
Invest in your health now by living a balanced lifestyle.

CANSA: Hollard DareDevil Run 2018

#DaredevilRun2018

Your Options for Participation are Limited to ONE

A 5km Run with a Difference that Makes a Difference

The Hollard DareDevil Run has grown from one brave soul daring to jog through peak hour traffic in a Speedo, to a massive countrywide phenomenon with a noble cause.

The only way to beat cancer is to raise awareness through initiatives like the Hollard DareDevil Run. Because early detection saves lives.

So check your jewels, pull on that purple DareDevil Speedo and let’s run cancer outta town. After all “It’s the one time in the year where you can run almost naked and not get arrested.” Sounds like a fair trade-off in the fight against cancer. #DaredevilRun2018 literally saves lives.

#WozaBozza

Says Thulani Sibisi, 2 Oceans Marathon winner and prostate cancer survivor: “I knew the word ‘cancer’. But I didn’t know what it was about. Now, I know’ – see why Thulani believes initiatives like DareDevil are vital in raising awareness about male cancers:

VIDEO INTERVIEW Thulani Sibisi:

Thulani Sibisi

So sign up at www.daredevilrun.com, join us on Friday, 16 March in #Johannesburg, #CapeTown, #Durban, #Bloemfontein and#Mbombela – let’s run cancer out of town! #WozaBozza

#WozaBozza

CANSA MANVan

Make some noise for the CANSA MANVan, sponsored by Hollard! This is your roving mobile clinic, bozza – an unstoppable force that’s driven to fight male cancers by providing PSA tests to men age 40+

The CANSA MANVan, sponsored by Hollard, is coming to your area soon. Be on the lookout for our MANVan and get free health checks, cancer screening and awareness materials to help you lower your cancer risk. The MANVan is shared between all regions that participate in the #DaredevilRun2018.

CANSA ManVan

Screening Offered:

  • Blood pressure
  • Blood sugar level
  • BMI and a body composition analysis
  • Skin scanner analysis – FotoFinder skin screening ( on request)
  • ** Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) fingerpick tests for males older then 40 – to help detect prostate abnormalities
  • Health awareness sessions offering advice on improving health and providing information on the early signs and symptoms of various cancers

** PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous (malignant) and non-cancerous (benign) prostate tissue. High PSA levels may indicate inflammation of the prostate or even cancer. A blood test or finger prick test can establish if PSA levels are raised.

Your options for participation are limited to ONE:

Run cancer out of town

Who will you run for?

#DaredevilDedication – Hollard calls on all Daredevils to dedicate their run to someone they know or love who has been affected by cancer. Runners can share their dedications on signboards, or even write them on themselves, seeing as there will be so much skin on show!

Who will you run for?

CANSA: Newsletter March 2018

Available for download:

Balance your Lifestyle Today for a Lower Cancer Risk Tomorrow

The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), says leading a balanced lifestyle (http://www.cansa.org.za/adopt-a-balanced-lifestyle/) can help lower the cancer risk and agrees with the World Cancer Research Fund –  people can reduce their cancer risk in one third of cancer cases, by simply combining a wholesome eating programmemaintaining a healthy body weight and remaining physically active.

According to Elize Joubert, CANSA CEO, “Being overweight or obese is linked to a higher risk of several cancers. Many people in South Africa are overweight, including children and teens. In fact, we have the highest occurrence of obesity in sub-Saharan Africa, with 42% women and 13% men carrying this label, while 7% of boys and 9.6% girls present as obese. So our message is to eat smart to lessen the cancer risk.” *

CANSA recommends the following smart nutrition tips:

  • Have less high sugar content food and beverages on an ongoing basis.
  • Eat little, if any, processed meat such as ham and bacon and eat no more than 500g (cooked weight) red meat (beef, pork, lamb) per week.  Instead, consume other protein sources such as fish, poultry or beans.
  • On a daily basis eat a minimum of 2.5 cups of vegetables and fruit.  These are complex foods that contain beneficial vitamins, minerals, fibre, carotenoids, and other bioactive substances, that may help avert cancer.
  • Choose whole grains instead of refined grain products.
  • Eat less salt and limit salt intake to below 6g (2.4g sodium) a day.
CANSA Balanced Lifestyle

Combined with eating smart, CANSA further endorses limiting inactive behaviours such as sitting, lying down, watching television, or other forms of screen-based entertainment, and rather get physically active to help maintain a healthy body weight. Instead of using the escalator or lifts, climb the stairs; whenever possible walk or bike to your destination; exercise at lunch with your co-workers, family or friends; take an exercise break at work to stretch or take a quick walk; walk to visit co-workers instead of sending an email; go dancing with your spouse or friends; go for walks in your neighbourhood or form a walking group.

Join our CANSA Active programme (http://cansa-active.org.za/) to learn about leading a balanced lifestyle, playing sport safely in the sun as well as being cancer-aware by encouraging smart choices regarding diet and lifestyle. It also gives the opportunity for sports people to participate in their favourite sporting activity or race, while raising funds online to support CANSA’s care and support  (http://www.cansa.org.za/cansas-care-support/)to those affected by cancer, ” adds Joubert.

Visit www.cansa.org.za or www.cansa-active.org.za, or contact the nearest CANSA Care Centre, call CANSA toll-free 0800 22 66 22 or email: [email protected].  CANSA offers multi-lingual support on WhatsApp: 0721979305 for English and Afrikaans and 0718673530 for Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho and Siswati.  Follow CANSA on Twitter: @CANSA(http://www.twitter.com/CANSA), join CANSA on Facebook: CANSA The Cancer Association of South Africa and follow CANSA on Instagram: @cancerassociationofsouthafrica

* Ng M, Fleming T, Robinson M, Thomson B, Graetz N, Margono C, Mullany EC, Biryukov S, Abbafati C, Abera SF, Abraham JP. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. The Lancet. 2014 Sep 5;384(9945):766-81