TORONTO – What was your first encounter with understanding cancer? For a batch of grade one and two kids, it was through learning about Terry Fox in school, losing their pet dog, or seeing the iconic pink ribbon for breast cancer.
Feb. 4 is World Cancer Day. And in a bid to raise awareness about understanding the disease, Princess Margaret Hospital doctors asked students as young as six to eight years old about what they know about the cancer.
“Cancer has become an everyday part of our lives, affecting people of all ages and backgrounds. Despite having touched the lives of so many people, considerable stigma still exists around the word,” the hospital’s spokesperson said.
Last year, the Canadian doctors took to the streets to ask people what they knew about cancer. They touched on smoking, Pap smears and tanning.
READ MORE: Canadian doctors dispel cancer myths to mark World Cancer Day
But this year, in the classroom, the little students seemed to know the basics about the disease.
Take a look at their responses:
“It’s like a sickness, a bad disease. If you’re lucky you can fight it off but sometimes it spreads, and it really hurts and you have to go to the doctor more often than usual,” one insightful student said.
“You can get better from cancer if you try as hard as you can. The doctor can help you, your family members can help you, your friends can help you,” another student said.
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Kelly Antes, an oncology social worker at Princess Margaret, says that adults should open up to their kids about cancer.
“As a parent or caregiver, we want to protect kids and sometimes we think the kindest way to do that is not to tell the child – but what the child pictures in their mind is often much worse,” she explained.
“It’s important to reassure your child they didn’t cause the cancer, they can’t catch the cancer and that they’ll always be cared for.”
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As for what prevents cancer? A new survey suggests that one in six people think there’s nothing they can do to lower their cancer risk.
The World Cancer Research Fund poll even suggested that 49 per cent of people don’t know that diet can affect people’s risk of getting cancer. The poll is based on the responses of 2,000 British adults.
READ MORE: Woman featured in graphic anti-smoking ad dies of cancer, hailed as hero
Princess Margaret Hospital names five ways to reduce your chances of getting cancer – quit smoking, maintain a healthy weight, regular exercise, limit alcohol intake and stay out of the sun.
The doctors say that if you follow these five guidelines your risk is cut in half.
In a report released Tuesday, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency warned that there will be 22 million new cases of cancer every year within the next two decades. Read the full report here.
READ MORE: Cancer cases worldwide will likely rise to 22 million, report warns
World Cancer Day is organized by the Union for International Cancer Control (or the UICC) with 100 member countries and 364 organizations. Read more about World Cancer Day here.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
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