Charities Seek out Political Heavyweights

12.42.32pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 31st Jan 2005

Dr Vincent Cable MP took a break from heavyweight politics when he had his Body Mass index (BMI) measured at a parliamentary exhibition organised by Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The two charities joined forces at a special parliamentary healthy living day to raise awareness of the impact of obesity on cancer and heart disease and to give MPs and staff advice on how to stay active and maintain a healthy weight.

Dr Vincent Cable MP says: "It's really important that people know that there are simple things we can all do to live healthier lives and reduce our risk of heart disease and cancer."

Dr Lesley Walker, Director of Cancer Information at Cancer Research UK, says: "When you're thinking about eating a healthy balanced diet remember the five-a-day message. Aim for a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and low in red and processed meat, fatty foods and alcohol."

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the BHF added: "The heart is like any other muscle, and needs to be exercised to work at its best. Just half an hour's moderate intensity activity, five times a week is enough to reach minimum fitness levels, and get your heart pumping."

Obesity is a key risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), which kills more than 117,000 people in the UK every year. Improvements in treatment have meant that death rates from CHD have been falling, but the current obesity epidemic threatens to reverse this trend. People who are overweight or obese force their hearts to work harder, and increase their risk of diabetes - another major contributor to heart disease.

Cancer Research UK launched their new Reduce the Risk campaign with the results of a survey showing that two thirds of people were unaware that being overweight or obese increases the risk of some cancers. The same number didn't know that a diet low in fruit and vegetables could increase their chance of getting the disease. There is convincing evidence that overweight and obesity cause cancer. About 12,000 new cases a year could be avoided if no-one was overweight or obese.

For more advice on how to maintain a healthy weight, or to find out more about Cancer Research UK's and the BHF's campaigns, visit www.bhf.org.uk/lifestyle and www.reducetherisk.org.

ENDS

For more information please contact Ruairi O'Connor at the British Heart Foundation on 020 7725 0664 or Nikki Pope at Cancer Research UK on 020 7061 8324.

Notes to Editors:

About BMI

? Body mass index (BMI) is a simple tool to measure whether you are within a healthy weight range for your height.

? BMI is only a guide and is aimed at healthy adults. It isn't suitable for children or older people.

? You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared (weight [kg] / height [m]2)

? A BMI of between 18.5 and 25 is ok, 25-30 is overweight and 30+ would put you in the obese category. Remember that BMI is only a guide and is not suitable for children or elderly people.

Waist size

? Another useful way of deciding if you are overweight or obese is measuring your waist circumference.

? It doesn't matter how tall or muscular you are - this doesn't affect the accuracy of waist measurement in showing if you are overweight or obese.

? Fat stored around the stomach is the most dangerous for health.

British Heart Foundation:

? The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is leading the battle against heart and

circulatory disease - the UK's biggest killer. The Charity is a major funder and

authority in cardiovascular research. It plays an important role in funding education,

both of the public and of health professionals, and in providing life-saving cardiac equipment and support for rehabilitation and care.

· For more information on the BHF please visit bhf.org.uk.

Cancer Research UK:

· Cancer Research UK's vision is to conquer cancer through world-class research. The charity works alone and in partnership with others to carry out research into the biology and causes of cancer, to develop effective treatments, improve the quality of life for cancer patients, reduce the number of people getting cancer and to provide authoritative information on cancer.

· Cancer Research UK is the world's leading independent charity dedicated to research on the causes, treatment and prevention of cancer. For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 020 7009 8820 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org