With almost one third of all cancers are linked to diet, HealthCare Global Enterprises Limited (HCG), South Asia’s largest cancer care network is now insisting on the importance of diet in preventing cancer and help cancer patients cope better with treatment.

On the occasion of ‘National Nutrition Week’ HCG took on the onus to focus on right diet strategy with the introduction of a booklet on “Fine Balance- Nutrition and Healthy Living’ with an objective to create awareness on the importance of diet in managing health prudently.

The guide was launched by Ms Sheila Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Indian Dietetics Association in the presence of Dr S. Bhattacharjee, Head, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, HCG. It may be noted that the first week of September is observed as ‘National Nutrition Week’ in India and the 2010 theme is ‘Nutrition Promotion for Stronger Nation’.

According to Ms. Krishnaswamy, India is characterized with under-nutrition rate that is among the highest in the world. Even within India the under-nutrition rate among poorer states is worse and the situation is alarming in some highly deprived regions across the country.

According to the National Cancer Institute data, 20 to 40 per cent of cancer patients succumb to causes related to malnutrition and not from cancer itself and 80 per cent of cancer patients develop clinical malnutrition. The guide would help cancer patients address issues pertaining to malnutrition.

Tracing the relation between diet & cancer, Dr Bhattacharjee, observed, “Dietary factors are known to account for about 50 per cent of cancer occurrence. American National Cancer Institute has evidence that almost one third of all cancers are linked to diet”. With healthy diet choices and prudent micro-nutrient supplementation, not only cancer risk could be reduced significantly but also during treatment its advantage could be harnessed, he pointed out.

With advancement of scientific research, the relationship between dietary patterns & its constituent’s and risk associated for several types of cancer is increasingly becoming evident. It is projected that 35 per cent of cancer deaths may be related to dietary factors.