We've come to understand that with proper diet and physical activity, we can reduce our cancer risk significantly. In fact, we could prevent nearly one-third of all cancer deaths if people eat right, maintain a healthy weight and are physically active. But, too often, the communities we live in don't encourage an active lifestyle, making motivation just the first hurdle to increasing our daily activity. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy is on a mission to get individuals and communities to put their best foot forward to find ways to increase how much we walk and in turn improve our collective health. Today, the Surgeon General released Step It Up! The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities that addresses some of the key barriers to Americans having equal access to walkable communities. Take a look at the great video below that explains more about ways we can improve our personal health through walking and promote communities that are more walkable and bikeable. The Managing Director of Healthy Eating, Active Living Environments for the American Cancer Society Colleen Doyle, notes that physical activity is not only a big factor in reducing cancer risk, but can also alleviate symptoms that can come with a diagnosis and in many cases improve survivorship as well. ACS CAN continues to advocate for legislation at the federal, state and community levels to ensure that no matter where you live, community design and infrastructure offer safe and accessible options for walking and other physical activity. We've made a lot of progress over the years in identifying ways to reduce our cancer risk. Now let's put that prevention into practice. We can each make a personal commitment to increase our daily steps. I urge you to take it one step further and call on your lawmakers to make resources available in your respective communities so we can all have safe and accessible bike paths and lanes, recreational trails and sidewalks.
Even as Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, ACS CAN will keep working year-round, across the country and with both state and federal lawmakers, to advance the public policies we know will reduce the burden of breast cancer.