Given the enormity of the problem, there appears to be a serious lack of concern on the part of the government health departments. Indeed, there seems to be a tendency to play down the problem and deny its environmental links. Along with this apparent lack of concern is a lack of readily available reliable information on cancer incidence and trends, disaggregated by locality and correlated to pollutants present in the environment. This lack of information is a barrier to public understanding of the issue and to wise action on the part of communities to create a healthy, sustainable environment. Standard warnings to stop smoking, eat less fat, eat fresh vegetables, and exercise are important, but inadequate to the problem.
Smoking clearly causes cancer.
But despite the repeated claim that eating fat causes cancer, there appears to be no scientific study showing this. In fact, evidence from Eskimo populations before the advent of modernization indicate this claim may be untrue. The cancer-fat link may well be the high solubility of carcinogens in fat. The main problem then is carcinogens, not fat. As for fresh vegetables, some of their health benefits may be offset by their contamination with carcinogenic agricultural chemicals.