PEOPLE in Yorkshire are being encouraged to be more active, following new figures released by Cancer Research UK highlighting the link between obesity and kidney cancer.

 

An estimated 20,000 kidney cancer cases have been caused by obesity over the last decade in England, according to the charity.

 

And in Yorkshire and the Humber alone, kidney cancer rates have increased by 44 per cent over the last 10 years.

 

A decade ago, around 585 people were diagnosed with kidney cancer every year in Yorkshire and the Humber. Today, around 950 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer every year in the region - around 575 men and 370 women.

 

Twenty-four per cent of kidney cancer cases are linked to carrying excess weight, and 24 per cent are linked to smoking.

 

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s head of health information, said: “It’s concerning to see kidney cancer cases rising like this. Being overweight or obese is linked to 13 types of cancer, including kidney, which is becoming more and more common. Similar to smoking, where damage to cells builds up over time and increases the risk of cancer, damage from carrying excess weight accumulates over a person’s lifetime. Making small changes in eating, drinking and being physically active... is a good way to get to a healthy weight.”