Healthy Eating and Active Living

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The science is clear — overweight and obesity, physical inactivity and poor nutrition are the number one cancer risk for people who don't use tobacco. Together, they cause 20 percent of cancer cases. 

ACS CAN is working at the local, state and federal levels to prevent these cancers by advocating for legislation and regulations that make information more accessible for healthy choices, ensure healthy schools for our youth and build healthy communities for all. 

Overweight and obesity, physical inactivity and poor nutrition are responsible for 20 percent of all cancer cases each year.

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Let's save more lives by reducing obesity, improving nutrition and increasing physical activity

Being overweight or obese is the number one cancer risk for people who don't use tobacco. 

Latest Updates

March 13, 2024
Wisconsin

Statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Wisconsin Government Relations Director Sara Sahli MADISON, Wis. – “As lawmakers close the 2023/2024 legislative session, their policies on easing the burden of cancer are decidedly mixed for the nearly 40,000 Wisconsinites who

February 2, 2022

The President announced this morning he is ‘reigniting’ his commitment to ‘end cancer as we know it,’ building on the initial and robust cancer moonshot investment in discovery, prioritizing increased uptake of prevention and addressing health disparities.

October 9, 2020
New Jersey

ACS CAN released this memo to the New Jersey state legislature asking for support of legislation that would require non-sugary drinks to be served with meals targetting young people in restaurants.

July 15, 2020
National

The American Cancer Society (ACS) and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), support efforts to make nutrition research a federal priority.

Healthy Eating and Active Living Resources

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) supports public policies at the local, state, and federal level that make it easier for children and adults to eat a healthy diet and to be physically active, thereby reducing their long-term cancer risk.

What children eat today affects their future cancer risks. Children with access to nutritious food are more likely to develop healthy eating habits they can continue to use into adulthood. Offering nutritious free school meals and snacks, before, during, and after school to all students is an effective policy intervention to address food insecurity and improve diet quality.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) appreciate the opportunity to comment on the USDA proposed rule to revise the child nutrition program requirements for meal patterns to be consistent with current nutrition science and federal dietary guidance.