Leisure-Related Cancer and its Control

Abstract

A widely quoted summary of the likely causes of cancer in the USA and other Western nations [1] does not separately identify the contribution of leisure activities to cancer causation. However, an approach to defining leisure activities is to identify how people spend their surplus income, that is, income not required for the basic necessities of life such as housing, heating or food. This category would obviously include the consumption of alcohol, cigarette smoking and sunbathing, all of which are important possible causes of cancer. In addition, certain activities of everyday life are also leisure pursuits, namely eating and sexual intercourse.