‘Sedentary Lifestyle, Unhealthy Feeding Habits Can Cause Cancer’

The Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), Cross River State chapter, yesterday said that sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy feeding habits could cause cancer.
A member of MWAN, Dr Uduak Udofia, made this disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Calabar at a cancer screening exercise for civil servants at the Federal Secretariat, Calabar.
Udofia, who works in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), said that on a daily basis, people should dedicate at least 30 minutes for exercise to keep the body active.
She added that sitting down to play computer games and watch television was not a healthy lifestyle and might predispose one to cancer.
According to her, a healthy diet is also important, as many people no longer eat healthily but prefer junk food, thereby relegating fruits and vegetables to the background.
The health practitioner said that breast cancer had become the second most common type of cancer among Nigerian women followed by cervical cancer.
“We must reduce excessive sedentary lifestyle and go for regular checkups because early detection makes it easy to treat.
Ladies should always examine their breasts after their menstrual period, and men too should examine themselves because our lifestyle have changed making many of us more sedentary and prone to cancer.
“It has been estimated that 40,600 women may die of cancer in the next few years in Nigeria, according to statistics in 2018; we are concerned as an association; that is why we want to kick cancer out of our society.
“We are also calling on the government to invest infrastructure in our health sector for effective care of victims of cancer in Nigeria.
“Similarly, doctors’ welfare should be well taken care of to mitigate the excessive migration of doctors from Nigeria, as we currently witness especially in Cross River.
“A situation where you have one doctor to 1,000 patients is sad because the doctor is also a human being,’’ she said.
MWAN in collaboration with the Cross River Government and some Civil Society Organisations, embarked on a month long campaign against cancer in the state with the theme, “I can and will’’.