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1. Promote a healthy diet.
2. Find fun physical activities the family can do together.
3. Discourage smoking and drink alcohol in moderation. Support loved ones who are trying to quit smoking.
4. Talk about your family health history with each other.
5. Schedule routine cancer screenings for you, your family members and friends.

Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Graphic Design Communications Associate designed the infographic below as a reminder of the ways you can encourage and support your family and friends to adopt these healthy choices and Stop Cancer Before It Starts!

Several university systems already have tobacco bans in place, while other systems seek to do the same. The California state system plans to bar tobacco use beginning in 2013 and the University of Missouri hopes to be smoke-free by 2014.

The move toward campus-wide bans has received generally positive reception, however, some faculty and students are concerned with the legal implications of such a move.

Read the full Associated Press article.

The University at Buffalo public health researchers followed 1,000 adult smokers in the U.S. in an attempt to determine if recent quitters increased their fruit and vegetable consumption or if smokers who ate more fruits and vegetables were more likely to quit. The researchers found that regardless of age, gender or ethnicity, the highest fruit and vegetable consumption group was three times more likely to be successful at smoking cessation after 14 months than the lowest consumption group. The higher consumption groups also smoked less cigarettes per day, started to smoke later in the day and had a lower dependence on nicotine.

Possible explanations for the findings include increased fiber intake, the feeling of a full stomach and fruits and vegetables not enhancing the flavor of cigarettes as some other foods do.

Read the full Newswise article.

The author of the study, Chi Pang Wen, a professor at the National Health Research Institute and China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan, suggests that exercising provides a distraction from focusing on the urge to smoke. In addition, the physical activity improves overall health and increases life expectancy. Up to 5.6 years, on average, can be added to an ex-smoker’s life by being active 30 minutes a day.

Read the full NPR article.

1 – Don’t smoke. If you do, quit. It may be hard, but more than 75% of lung cancer cases could be avoided in the U.S. if people didn’t smoke.

2 – Ask your healthcare provider about vaccines for HPV and hepatitis, which can cut liver and cervical cancer rates in half.

3 – Get more exercise and drink less alcohol to decrease breast cancer risk.

The authors of the article also pointed out that studies should be done with a younger age group since lifestyle choices made early in life can impact cancer risk later. Study participants are usually followed for a few years, but in order to see long term effects, the authors suggest participants should be followed for much longer.

Read the full Huffington Post article.

Many public places have laws against smoking in public, such as bars and schools. However, research has shown that secondhand smoke from inside cars can be just as dangerous if not more dangerous than smoke-filled public places. Even if the car window is open, exposure to secondhand smoke has been linked to breathing problems and allergy symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges parents to ban smoking in their homes and cars.

Read the full USA Today article.

The report noted that while counseling programs and medication can double or triple smokers’ chances of quitting, most who tried in 2010 didn’t use either nor did they seek a doctor’s advice.

The CDC said that the high percentage of smokers who want to quit signals a step in the right direction, but stressed the need for health care providers to offer more smoking-cessation programs, many of which have only recently become available under certain health insurance plans.

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.
Most Smokers Want to Quit, Only a Fraction Actually Do

On the bright side, the rise of health care penalties has been accompanied by the rise of wellness programs. More and more companies are encouraging their employees to make healthier lifestyle choices to curb rising health care costs. Company-sponsored wellness programs offer incentives such as lower health insurance premiums for employees who don’t smoke and who maintain a healthy weight.

While some experts see health penalties as a necessity in a time of rocketing health care costs, others believe these penalties will affect low-income employees disproportionally.

What do you think? Read the full article at Reuters.

Insight: Firms to charge smokers, obese more for healthcare