Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Obese people now outnumber smokers two to one in Scotland as Cancer Research UK urge government to take action

One of the posters from the new Cancer Research UK campaign, comparing obesity to the perils of smoking.
One of the posters from the new Cancer Research UK campaign, comparing obesity to the perils of smoking.

People who are obese now outnumber smokers nearly two to one in Scotland.

That’s according to new figures from Cancer Research UK, as the charity urges government action to tackle obesity.

Around three in ten adults are obese according to the figures, and Cancer Research UK’s analysis revealed being overweight or obese trumps smoking as the leading cause of four types of cancer in Scotland – bowel, kidney, ovarian and liver.

Smoking is still the nation’s biggest preventable cause of cancer and carries a much higher risk of the disease than obesity, however excess weight causes around 190 more cases of bowel cancer than smoking in Scotland each year.

The same pattern is true of cancer in the kidneys (around 130 more cases caused by excess weight than by smoking each year in Scotland), ovaries (around 40) and liver (around 25).

Extra body fat sends out signals that can tell cells to divide more often and, similar to smoking, can cause damage that builds up over time and raises the risk of cancer

The news comes as Cancer Research UK launches a new campaign across the UK, designed to increase awareness of the link between obesity and cancer.

The campaign compares smoking and obesity to show how policy change can help people from healthier habits, not to compare tobacco with food.

In addition, the charity is calling for the Scottish Government to take bold action as part of its forthcoming obesity strategy.

Gregor McNie, Cancer Research UK’s head of external affairs in Scotland, said: “There isn’t a silver bullet to reduce obesity, but the huge fall in smoking over the years – partly thanks to advertising and environmental bans – shows that government-led change works. It was needed to tackle sky-high smoking rates, and now the same is true for obesity.

“The Scottish Government must do what it can to make it easier for people here to live a healthier life. In its next Programme for Government, a commitment to introduce laws to restrict the junk food multibuy price promotions that tempt us to eat too much would go a long way to helping us to do a healthier shop.”

Posters with images inspired by old fashioned cigarette packs will be on display at prominent sites across Scotland including at Glasgow Central Station, as well as on bus shelters throughout Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.