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An analysis showed that only 4 out of 10 people are practicing the cancer prevention guidelines recommended by the government.
The National Cancer Center announced that this was the result of last year's 'National Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Behavior Survey' of 4,000 Korean adults.
The paper containing the analysis results was published in the latest issue of an international academic journal published by the Korean Society of Epidemiology.
Cancer is the number one cause of death among people over the age of 40 in Korea.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Cancer Center created and announced the '10 tips for preventing cancer' in 2006 with the purpose of promoting that cancer is also preventable.
The 10 cancer prevention lifestyle tips are summarized as quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol, eating a balanced diet, not eating salty or burnt foods, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, getting vaccinated, having a safe sex life, avoiding carcinogens, and getting an early health checkup.
According to the results of this analysis, 75% of the respondents were aware of these cancer prevention tips, but only 39.3% of the respondents said they had practiced them.
Among the cancer prevention rules, 57.7%, more than half, chose 'exercise' as the most difficult item to follow.
The awareness level of exercise was high at 88.7%, but the level of practice was 32.5%, showing the largest difference among the 10 items.
“The core of this study is that the majority of people know that cancer is preventable, but there is not enough practice for it,” said Oh Jin-kyung, a professor of cancer management at the National Cancer Center and International Cancer Graduate University, the first author of the thesis. If it's difficult to do, it can be a good way to set goals one by one and change your lifestyle."
(Photo=provided by the National Cancer Center, Yonhap News)