I just read about a follow up to a YouGov survey that was done last year for the World Cancer Research Fund.
You may remember the original research because many of the papers picked up on the point that we shouldn't eat bacon and other processed meats because they increase the risk of bowel cancer.
Well a year later a follow up report has asked how many people have made changes to their diet and lifestyles because of the report.
Of the 2,124 people surveyed 11% had said they had tried to cut down on processed meat.
37% of over 55s had tried to cut down - but only 6% of 18 to 34 year olds.
26% had tried to eat more fruit and vegetables and 18% said they had made more of an effort to lost weight.
Quoting from the AOL report: Richard Evans, head of communications for WCRF, said: "It is really encouraging that so many people remember our report and have tried to make lifestyle changes as a result of it. A big part of our work is interpreting the latest scientific research and then giving people the information so they are then in a position to make informed decisions. This survey shows that if people are told how they can reduce their risk of cancer then many of them will make changes.
"However, recent market research has shown that despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of our report, many people are still unaware of how things like diet and physical activity affect cancer risk. For example, only 57% of people are aware that having a poor diet increases your chances of developing cancer."
Now two things struck me when reading this. The obvious one is just how much do you have to tell people before they finally realise they have to take responsibility for their own health. Every newspaper, magazine and TV news bulletin covered this story!
The second is how often the statistics related to people "trying" to change. So it's quite likely that many of them actually failed to actually make a change - they just tried! As Yoda said in the very first Star Wars (when Luke Skywalker got his spaceship stuck in a bog) "there is no such thing as try. Either you do it or you don't"!!! So how many people actually did cut down and take responsibility? Really?
