Welcome to NGC. Skip directly to: Search Box, Navigation, Content.


Brief Summary

GUIDELINE TITLE

American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention: reducing the risk of cancer with healthy food choices and physical activity.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE(S)

GUIDELINE STATUS

This is the current release of the guideline.

It updates a previous version: Byers T, Nestle M, McTiernan A, Doyle C, Currie-Williams A, Gansler T, Thun M. American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention: reducing the risk of cancer with healthy food choices and physical activity. CA Cancer J Clin 2002 Mar-Apr;52(2):92-119.

BRIEF SUMMARY CONTENT

 
RECOMMENDATIONS
 EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND AVAILABILITY
 DISCLAIMER

 Go to the Complete Summary

RECOMMENDATIONS

MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS

In addition to recommendations regarding individual choices related to weight control, physical activity, and diet, the American cancer Society (ACS) Guidelines underscore what communities can and should do to facilitate healthy eating and physical activity behaviors.

ACS Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention

ACS Recommendations for Individual Choices

Maintain a healthy weight throughout life.
  • Balance caloric intake with physical activity.
  • Avoid excessive weight gain throughout the life cycle.
  • Achieve and maintain a healthy weight if currently overweight or obese.
Adopt a physically active lifestyle.
  • Adults: engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on 5 or more days of the week. Forty-five to 60 minutes of intentional physical activity are preferable.
  • Children and adolescents: engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity at least 5 days per week.
Consume a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant sources.
  • Choose foods and beverages in amounts that help achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
  • Eat five or more servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits each day.
  • Choose whole grains in preference to processed (refined) grains.
  • Limit consumption of processed and red meats.
If you drink alcoholic beverages, limit consumption.
  • Drink no more than one drink per day for women or two per day for men.
ACS Recommendations for Community Action

Public, private, and community organizations should work to create social and physical environments that support the adoption and maintenance of healthful nutrition and physical activity behaviors.
  • Increase access to healthful foods in schools, worksites, and communities.
  • Provide safe, enjoyable, and accessible environments for physical activity in schools, and for transportation and recreation in communities.

CLINICAL ALGORITHM(S)

None provided

EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS

TYPE OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS

The type of evidence is not specifically stated for each recommendation.

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND AVAILABILITY

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE(S)

ADAPTATION

Not applicable: The guideline was not adapted from another source.

DATE RELEASED

2002 Mar (revised 2006 Sep)

GUIDELINE DEVELOPER(S)

American Cancer Society - Disease Specific Society

SOURCE(S) OF FUNDING

American Cancer Society

GUIDELINE COMMITTEE

American Cancer Society 2006 Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee

COMPOSITION OF GROUP THAT AUTHORED THE GUIDELINE

Primary Authors: Lawrence H. Kushi, ScD; Tim Byers, MD, MPH; Colleen Doyle, MS, RD; Elisa V. Bandera, MD, PhD; Marji McCullough, ScD, RD; Ted Gansler, MD, MBA; Kimberly S. Andrews; Michael J. Thun, MD, MS

American Cancer Society Volunteer Participants: Barbara Ainsworth, PhD, MPH, Professor, Exercise and Nutritional Science, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, San Diego State University; Rachel Ballard-Barbash, MD, MPH, Associate Director, Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD; Elisa V. Bandera, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ; Abby F. Bloch, PhD, RD, FADA, Nutrition Consultant, New York, NY; Tim Byers, MD, MPH, Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics; and Deputy Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; June M. Chan, ScD, Assistant Professor and Program Director, Genitourinary Cancer Epidemiology and Population Science, University of California, San Francisco; Ralph J. Coates, PhD;, Associate Director for Science, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA; Wendy Demark–Wahnefried, PhD, RD, LDN, Professor, Surgery and School of Nursing, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; Jo Freudenheim, PhD, University of Buffalo Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York; Peter Gann, MD, ScD, Professor and Director of Pathology Research, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago; Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Terry Hartman, PhD, MPH, RD, Associate Professor, Nutrition, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA; Laurence Kolonel, MD, PhD, Deputy Director, Cancer Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI; Lawrence H. Kushi, PhD, Associate Director for Etiology and Prevention Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA; Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy; and Director and Senior Scientist, Tufts University, Boston, MA; Maria Elena Martinez, PhD, RD, Associate Professor of Public Health, Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ; Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA; Marion Morra, MA, ScD, President, Morra Communications, Milford, CT; Arthur Schatzkin, MD, DrPH, Chief, Nutrition Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD; Marty Slattery, PhD, MPH, Professor, Family and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Stephanie Smith-Warner, PhD, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Epidemiology, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Judith Wylie-Rosett, EdD, RD, Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, Professor, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN

American Cancer Society Staff Members: Terri Ades, RN, MS, AOCN, Director, Cancer Information; Kimberly S. Andrews, Research Associate, Cancer Control Science; Vilma Cokkinides, PhD, Program Director, Risk Factor Surveillance; Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, Director, Nutrition and Physical Activity; Ted Gansler, MD, MBA, Director of Medical Content; Marji McCullough, ScD, RD, Nutritional Epidemiologist; Alicia Samuels, MPH, Manager, Medical and Scientific Communication; David P. Ringer, PhD, MPH;, Scientific Program Director, Research Department; Robert A. Smith, PhD, Director of Cancer Screening; Michael J. Thun, MD, MS, Vice President, Epidemiology and Surveillance Research

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES/CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Not stated

GUIDELINE STATUS

This is the current release of the guideline.

It updates a previous version: Byers T, Nestle M, McTiernan A, Doyle C, Currie-Williams A, Gansler T, Thun M. American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention: reducing the risk of cancer with healthy food choices and physical activity. CA Cancer J Clin 2002 Mar-Apr;52(2):92-119.

GUIDELINE AVAILABILITY

Electronic copies: Available from the American Cancer Society Web site.

Print copies: Available from the American Cancer Society, 250 Williams St., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30303; Web site: www.cancer.org.

AVAILABILITY OF COMPANION DOCUMENTS

None available

PATIENT RESOURCES

The following are available:

Also available by calling 1-800-ACS-2345.

Please note: This patient information is intended to provide health professionals with information to share with their patients to help them better understand their health and their diagnosed disorders. By providing access to this patient information, it is not the intention of NGC to provide specific medical advice for particular patients. Rather we urge patients and their representatives to review this material and then to consult with a licensed health professional for evaluation of treatment options suitable for them as well as for diagnosis and answers to their personal medical questions. This patient information has been derived and prepared from a guideline for health care professionals included on NGC by the authors or publishers of that original guideline. The patient information is not reviewed by NGC to establish whether or not it accurately reflects the original guideline's content.

NGC STATUS

This NGC summary was completed by ECRI on January 13, 2004. It was updated by ECRI Institute on February 4, 2008. The updated information was verified by the guideline developer on February 29, 2008.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

This NGC summary is based on the original guideline, which is subject to the guideline developer's copyright restrictions.

DISCLAIMER

NGC DISCLAIMER

The National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) does not develop, produce, approve, or endorse the guidelines represented on this site.

All guidelines summarized by NGC and hosted on our site are produced under the auspices of medical specialty societies, relevant professional associations, public or private organizations, other government agencies, health care organizations or plans, and similar entities.

Guidelines represented on the NGC Web site are submitted by guideline developers, and are screened solely to determine that they meet the NGC Inclusion Criteria which may be found at http://www.guideline.gov/about/inclusion.aspx .

NGC, AHRQ, and its contractor ECRI Institute make no warranties concerning the content or clinical efficacy or effectiveness of the clinical practice guidelines and related materials represented on this site. Moreover, the views and opinions of developers or authors of guidelines represented on this site do not necessarily state or reflect those of NGC, AHRQ, or its contractor ECRI Institute, and inclusion or hosting of guidelines in NGC may not be used for advertising or commercial endorsement purposes.

Readers with questions regarding guideline content are directed to contact the guideline developer.


 

 

   
DHHS Logo