Healthy lifestyles of contemporary Chinese population: challenges and new initiatives in primary cancer prevention

Greater than 40% of cancer can be prevented through modifiable risk factors. The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research recommended healthy lifestyles for cancer prevention. No study, however, has investigated adoption rate of cancer prevention lifestyles in China. This article utilized data from a baseline survey of major cancer related risk factors in China including 89,045 participants. The results showed that the adoption rate of healthy lifestyles for cancer prevention among the contemporary Chinese population was 24.49%. Women (28.91%), individuals aged 40 years or older (26.43%-38.41%), had lower education level (27.60%), lived in rural areas (29.24%) and high or middle human development index regions (24.98%), and were unemployed (29.14%) had higher adoption rates. The adoption rate of healthy lifestyles was lowest among participants aged 25–29 years (14.16%) and showed an increased trend with age (P for trend < 0.001), with similar trends observed across subgroups stratified by sex, education level, residential area, and employment status (all P for trend < 0.001). Despite challenges in implementing primary cancer prevention, recent initiatives such as China Code Against Cancer and the Smart Health Management Digital Platform for Primary Cancer Prevention are expected to promote healthy lifestyles among the Chinese population, supported by national policies and international guidelines.