17 per cent greater risk of developing cancer
British women face a higher cancer risk compared with the rest of Europe, new research has suggested.
The reasons behind this are believed to be the amount of alcohol we consume and our fatty diets.
We have a 17 per cent greater risk of developing cancer, compared to our European counterparts.
The data comes from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It reveals that we have a 25.1 per cent chance of getting the killer disease by the age of 75.
Dr Rachel Thompson, World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) deputy science head, syas: "Women in the UK are more likely to be overwight and to drink more alcohol than the European average - both factors increase cancer risk.
"One of the biggest health challenges we face is ro reduce the amount of alcohol we drink as a nation and to get a grip on the obesity crisis before it spirals out of control."
The data also revealed taht 10.6 per cent of UK women are killed by cancer before making it to 75 compared with 9.4 per cent in Europe.
But it's not all gloom and doom, the risk of men getting cancer before 75 and dying from it are 6 per cent lower than in Europe.
The WCRF says 80,000 cases of cancer could be prevented if people were more active, ate less salt, red and processed meat, stuck to being a healthy weight and did not overdo the boozing.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies