 The next item of business is a member's business debate on motion 3275, in the name of Donald Cameron on World Cancer Day, an opportunity to tackle obesity. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put with those members who wish to speak in the debate. Please press their question to speak buttons as soon as possible. You are allowed to take interventions in a member's just any other debate, so case of some misconception lurking out there. I would like to open the debate tonight by first thanking Cancer Research UK for providing the impetus behind this debate for World Cancer Day, which of course takes place a week next Saturday on 4 February 2017. Given the nature of cancer and the importance that society places on both fundraising to find cures and to support those who suffer from cancer and assist their families, I feel incredibly privileged to be able to open this debate today, and I look forward to the contributions from members across this chamber. Similarly, I am delighted that this motion has received so much support from across the chamber. However, this is not surprising. Given that one in every two people are estimated to receive a cancer diagnosis at some point in their life, it may be safe to say that everyone in this chamber and the public gallery will know at least one person who has either battled cancer and survived or unfortunately succumbed to the disease. We will all have family who have died from cancer, my own grandfather and uncle, for example. Indeed, far too many people die as a result of cancer, and while cancer death rates have fallen in Scotland by a fifth over the last 20 years, the incidence rate has in fact risen. Referencing from a report from ISD Scotland, Cancer Research UK has highlighted that, on current trends, the number of new cancer cases is expected to rise by a third by 2023 to 2027. This is simply staggering. We know that there are many causes that result in people developing cancer. In some cases it is genetic. In other cases it can develop as a result of an infection or it can occur from exposure to a variety of natural and man-made elements. In these instances there is little that we can do to prevent cancer occurring. One area that has been raised in this chamber recently is that of cancers that have developed as a result of poor working conditions, namely the cancer of mycithelioma, a disease that affects around 1.2 per cent of Scots and has devastating long-term consequences. Members will recall a debate on this a month or so ago. However, as all cancer charities, Government bodies and experts alike will acknowledge, there are many instances of cancer that have developed simply as a result of lifestyle, habits and addictions, such as little to no exercise, poor diet, alcohol consumption and excessive smoking. These are all things that are within our own control and can be addressed. Granted, that is much easier said than done. It is estimated that around 4 in every 10 cancer diagnoses are preventable at 40 per cent. That is a huge number. That is why, in putting this motion together, we have decided to focus on an area in which the Government can have real impact. Cancer Research UK have noted that obesity is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer after smoking and is linked with 13 different types of cancer. In Scotland, almost two thirds of adults are classed as either overweight or obese and almost a quarter of children are in the same category. Those are not only frightening statistics but a sad indictment of how we all manage our own personal health in Scotland. As the world cancer research fund notes, around 10 per cent of bowel, breast and womb cancers in the UK can be prevented by being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day for five days a week. As part of their contribution to the debate today, Macmillan cancer has made clear the need for people to be more physically active in order to reduce their risk of developing cancer and Macmillan run a number of move-more programmes across Scotland. The importance of programmes like this is significant. It is all well for us to talk about this issue but we need to act upon it and, dare I say, fund it. I would congratulate Macmillan for not only highlighting this but for investing time, money and volunteers in it. In fact, Macmillan acknowledged in their 2011 report that more physical activity in our day-to-day lives could be considered a wonder drug for supporting those with cancer. They also note that physical activity after treatment for cancer can reduce the impact of some debilitating side effects, be they physical or mental side effects such as anxiety, depression, impaired mobility and weight changes. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the remarks of obesity action Scotland, who provided me and others across the chamber with guidance ahead of this debate. They note that obese and overweight people cost the NHS up to £600 million per year. This is an unbelievable sum of money but, given the statistics that I mentioned earlier, it is hardly surprising. With all of this in mind, it is important that we reflect on what can be done to stem Scotland's obesity crisis and help to bring down cancer incidents. The Scottish Government produced its last obesity strategy in 2010 and, at the time, it was viewed as groundbreaking. However, as obesity action Scotland has pointed out, the report has been reviewed and judged that the number of interventions aimed at attitudes, values and behaviours outweighed those aimed at costs and regulation. That is why the 2017 obesity strategy that the Scottish Government announced last year is highly welcome but more crucial than ever. Those on these benches have been proactive on focusing on ways to reduce obesity, which will help to lower cancer incidents. My colleague Brian Whittle has recently launched our healthy lifestyle strategy document, which makes several suggestions, including early intervention in schools, by ensuring that the highest nutritional value of school meals should be the primary goal for food procurement and support for the cause made by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, who argued that physical education should be fully embedded into primary care, secondary care, social care and health education, as well as into the health and social care workforce and workplace. I would encourage the Government to review this document, as well as all supporting reports and evidence as it considers its next obesity strategy. I should also mention the work of the health committee in the past few months. That committee, on which I sit, has had a number of sessions on obesity and has recently written to the Scottish Government calling for action. Deputy Presiding Officer, it is vital that we tackle obesity and reduce the incidence of cancer. This is not an easy task but it is not an impossible one either. Most importantly, there is a significant element of personal responsibility. We have to encourage everyone in society to take responsibility for their own health, both in terms of diet and lifestyle. It is partly down to Government to look at what it can do but it is also down to those in the public, private, voluntary and third sector and beyond to promote a different kind of attitude in our country. An attitude where we do not binge on unhealthy food but instead focus on food that makes us healthy and keeps us healthy. An attitude where we do not drink alcohol excessively but instead drink responsibly. An attitude where exercise is not viewed as a chore or unnecessary but as something so simple yet so effective in the long run. To conclude, thank you to Cancer Research UK for all their work in promoting world cancer day and good luck to them in their Scaledown Cancer campaign. I look forward to hearing what others have to say in this critical debate. I now call an open debate for speeches of four minutes when he is taught to be followed by Jackson Carlaw. I thank Donald Cameron for bringing this important issue to Parliament today. It is clear that obesity is a serious problem in Scotland. Almost two thirds of us are overweight or obese and people of normal weight are now in the minority. Obesity rates in Scotland are among the highest in the world. It is vital that we address the issue of obesity as a matter of public health, both because of the sheer number of people affected and the impact on quality of life and life expectancy. The link between obesity and cancer is now well established and, as the motion states, obesity is now the second biggest cause of preventable cancer in Scotland after smoking. We know that we need to improve diet and exercise in order to tackle obesity and we know that if we do that effectively it will make a big difference to millions of people's lives. While strategies that focus on education and public information are useful, they will never effectively address the problem alone. We need to tackle the obesogenic environment that we live in that promotes inactivity and overconsumption. Although personal responsibility plays a role in weight gain, we need to make it easy to do the right thing. At the moment, energy dense foods are easily available, affordable and widely accepted, making an unhealthy lifestyle the default option. While I accept that exercise will have an important role to play in improving health and preventing weight gain, the evidence is very clear that the problem of obesity will not be effectively addressed without changing people's diets and reducing the amount of food in high-end sugar and fat that we consume. The motion calls for us to be bold on diet and obesity and I absolutely agree that we should be bold. I am completely confident that the Scottish Government will be. The Scottish Government has been pioneering in tackling public health issues such as smoking and alcohol in the past. That has my complete confidence that we will be bold in tackling obesity in the future. It will not be enough for the Scottish Government to act unilaterally. This Parliament's health and sport committee, which I am a member, has urged the Scottish Government to continue lobbying the UK Government to ban pre-watershed advertising for junk food. I hope that all members on all benches would lend their support. We need the EU to be bold on the issue of labelling regulations and we must ensure that post Brexit this power comes to the Scottish Parliament so that we can incorporate it into our obesity strategy. Members will be aware that it is very rare indeed that I praise an action of the UK Government, but I think that the UK Government's soft drinks levy is the right sort of thing to do. It shows a willingness to use taxation to create an environment in which healthy eating is the easier choice. Unfortunately, I do not think that it goes far enough. Fizzy drinks are not the only culprits. Myself, I love a bit of chocolate. We need to address the use of price promotions until prompted purchasing, both of which are presently used disproportionately for food and drink, high in fat and sugars. Limiting the use of those pricing tools and healthy options, or better still, ensuring that they are used for healthier options, will make a difference. We know that people on lower incomes or who live in poorer areas are more likely to be overweight or obese, so the aim must be to make the healthy choice more affordable—the more affordable one. If the grocery budget is tight, people will be more able to buy themselves in their family's healthier food. Obesity remains a challenge facing Scotland, and we need a bold strategy if we are going to successfully address it. I congratulate Donald Cameron on bringing focus to the discussion in the chamber this afternoon. I begin by saying that the present Mrs Carlo—I should say the only Mrs Carlo of 30 years standing—when hearing that I am going to take part in a debate on being overweight or obese gives me what my grandmother would have called an old-fashioned look. I did when I first spoke in the chamber on public health resolve to lose weight. I lost three and a half stone. I was very proud of myself, and it proved to me that it could be done, but I am afraid that it has not lasted. The truth of the matter is that I look around the chamber. There are others who, I think, are similarly afflicted as I am by not necessarily taking proper attention to their weight, and so I do understand sometimes the frustration of those outside who find admonitions and exhortations from MSPs on these subjects difficult to take. I mean that there are members, as I regularly say, I have yet to meet in a staircase in this Parliament, and I look forward to seeing that they may one time do. But that said, it is said, it is the truth that in Scotland two thirds of adults and over one quarter of children are classed as overweight or obese. Those rates are amongst the poorest in the UK and in the OECD. It costs some £600 million, possibly taking into account all other factors, some £4.6 billion to the Scottish economy as well. And I want to focus then on children, because I enjoy, I like chocolate too, but I've always liked it. I mean that the promotion of chocolate to children is nothing new. When I was young and watched children's televisions programmes way back in the 1960s, there was the milky bar kid, there were opal fruits that were made to make your mouth water, there was the very seductive when you were young cabbaries flake adverts, there was Kit Kat, there was Mars Bar and there was Terry Scott with Curly Worley. And we all indulged, but the truth is, we accompanied that with a much more physically active lifestyle. We walked to and from school, we ran about, the television programmes for children started at 4.30 in the afternoon and finished at 5.20, and that was basically it. The whole nature of sedentary entertainment for children has transformed dramatically. And it's worth remembering that when this Parliament first met in 1999, neither obesity nor dementia were even identified as challenges facing Scotland's health service at that time. These are issues that have grown exponentially during the lifetime of this Parliament and require to be tackled. Now, I'm not naturally one to look to a legislative solution. Scottish Conservatives did work with the Scottish Government on alcohol minimum unit pricing at that time, and I have to say that the Labour Party fought it to the death in the legislative process, because we felt that there was an opportunity to try something, it's why we asked for the sunset clause to be included, so that we could have confidence in trying it while knowing that if it didn't have the effect that was claimed for it, it could be repealed. I simply say to the Government that I understand the argument on watershed, although, again, with digital entertainment, people really record programmes and watch them at all times. I'm not sure that that in itself can make the difference. I also worry that if we advise too much all the time and exhort too much all the time, it comes a kind of wallpaper in people's lives that it's too easy for them to ignore. I say to the Government if they do seek to go down a route, and I think that we have to be at least open to ideas in terms of how we tackle childhood obesity that may lead to legislative solutions, I commend to them that sunset clause attachment, which would allow Parliament to, with confidence, consider that it might support some of these initiatives without the political dynamic of knowing that's a permanent change, but a change that allows us to assess what the impact of it proves to be and if it proves that it works to support it, but for people to know that if it doesn't, we will withdraw it at that point. This is a huge challenge, it's why I commend Brian Whittle for the work that he's done, which gives so much focus on to childhood exercise and physical activity, because, ultimately, people do have a responsibility for their own wellbeing. It's not one that can simply be seconded to the Government, and we all have a challenge in ensuring that we make progress on this issue. A childhood days, Mr De Carlaw. I remember them well. Anna Sarwar, to be followed by Alison Johnstone. Can I first say that it's great to follow the milky bar care of the Parliament in the debate today? He mentioned Carly Worley's. What he failed to mention was the chocolate of choice, which is the Toblerone, for this parliamentary term, as well. I also want to thank Donald Cameron for bringing forward this really important debate that I'm sure unifies all of us across this Parliament and people across Scotland on how to address Scotland's biggest killer, which is cancer. I want to thank Cancer Research UK for all the amazing work that they, their volunteers and their staff, do all year round fighting for this very important issue. Not just Cancer Research UK, but all cancer charities for the amazing work that they do all year round. This Parliament has done really bold things around tobacco, alcohol but I do generally believe that the next big challenge for us is around obesity. Being bold and challenging on that strategy is something that hopefully again we can find cross-party consensus on, because obesity is a challenge around being the second most likely risk factor for cancer. Right across our country you can see the figures that have already been stated around two thirds of adults and one quarter of children being overweight or obese, the cost of the NHS being alone around £600 million per annum. I remember that that's a cost that is absolutely preventable. How we challenge obesity and have a generational impact, I think, is really, really important. I want to briefly mention a ask from Macmillan, because I think it's important to mention obesity in the frame of prevention of cancer but it's also important to mention obesity and exercise in terms of living with cancer and recovering from cancer. They have some very direct recommendations around activity being a standard part of a care plan for patients, comprehensive rehabilitation services that include physiotherapy and exercise and commission schemes and leisure centres and also every person with a cancer diagnosis to be offered a brief intervention of physical activity to recommend the levels of physical activity appropriate for their age. I think that it's worth remembering all those asks too, as well as the rightful asks by Cancer Research UK about bold policy initiatives around portion sizes, about advertising, about the proximity of unhealthy foods around schools and indeed watershed times. I think that that's all interesting ideas that I hope we can discuss in more detail as we see the refreshing of the Government strategy around obesity. I should also mention that it's not lost upon us that inequalities and health inequalities and income inequalities also have a direct impact around overweight levels, obesity levels and indeed the diagnosis of cancer levels as well. How we can challenge inequalities throughout society I think will also have an important impact too. I hope that as we develop the NHS action plan we can see more emphasis around health inequalities being a key part of that too. I think that it's also worth mentioning the impact of cuts to local budgets and indeed sports budgets and the impact that that has on activity too. I hope that through the bold actions around the tax powers of the Parliament, through the money that's going to come from the sugar tax and indeed through other policy initiatives we can find creative ways of using that money. For example, on the sugar tax to give every secondary school £100,000 of direct activity to create space for children to come and to exercise and to learn more about how preventative health can help to protect them for future generations. That is an issue, as Donald Cameron said, that touches every single person's heart right across Scotland but, indeed, right across the world. I pledge on behalf of my party to work with every political party and every charity to make sure that we can defeat cancer in all its forms. Thank you very much. Deputy Presiding Officer, I'd like to thank Donald Cameron for securing time to debate this issue this evening as we approach world cancer day. To Jackson Carlaw and Anna Sarwar, I have only one word and that is spangles. I'd like to thank those organisations who've sent briefings to us today. I know that we've heard this fact several times but I think that it's one we need to make sure that every person in Scotland is aware of. Obesity is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer after smoking and it's linked to 13 types of cancer. That's important because at the moment only one in four Scots is aware that being overweight could cause cancer. It's really important that each and every one of us in this chamber do what we can to get that message out because we can change this. I watched a film over recess. It was called 84 Charring Cross Road and Anne Bancroft plays a bibliophile, equally addicted to English literature and cigarettes, carrying out a long-distance correspondence with Anthony Hopkins, who worked in a well-stocked bookshop in London. Whether she was eating lunch, meeting friends, watching TV or lying in bed reading, she was smoking. I watched this in horror but that was the norm. She was playing an educated woman in this role but she did what she did because there was no understanding of the risks. This emphasises that we can change societal behaviour. We've come a long way with regard to smoking thanks to research, increased understanding, awareness raising and, yes, legislation. Change is possible. The fact that some cancers are preventable means that we can take action and we have to because being overweight or obese has become the norm for adults in Scotland. People of normal weight are now in the minority and it wasn't always the case. If we look back at footage of sporting events in the 70s and 80s or musical events, we can see that we were a leaner nation. We're not alone in getting larger but our obesity rates are amongst the highest in the world. When one in four children are overweight or obese, the future isn't the bright one that we want for our young people. This evening, we're focusing on the relationship between obesity and cancer. Research in the Lancet, which Mary Todd touched on, points to increased energy intake as a central cause. Obesity action Scotland tells us that preference for and demand for unhealthy products may be shaped by an environment promoting junk food. In his excellent book, The End of Over-eating, David Kessler points out that he tells us of the science and the huge investment behind the creation of some of the most intentionally addictive food on the planet. That issue is about more than personal willpower. Levels of obesity and overweight, which Anna Sarwar touched on, among women and children reflect patterns of social and economic inequality. Ultimately, we need strong action to tackle health inequalities from the earliest stage. Compared with other European countries, there are very high levels of obesity among pregnant women in Scotland. I welcome calls from obesity action Scotland, Cancer Research UK and others to tackle price promotions on unhealthy foods. As a member of the health committee, we heard that over 40 per cent of food on the UK is bought on price promotion, the highest rate in Europe, and that the vast majority of food that is promoted is junk food. We have two cultures, two food cultures, running side by side in Scotland. Our world-renowned meat seafood produce is highly regarded, flown around the globe to prestigious restaurants. While at home, many Scots have never tasted this food, we struggle to meet the calls of those exhorting us to eat five a day for all sorts of reasons—costs, affordability, preparation, know-how, time to shop, time to prepare. I wholeheartedly support the calls for regulation for obesity action Scotland. All five calls are very welcome. The calls from Cancer Research UK for action at a population level, and I support McMillan Cancer's calls for physical activity to become a standard part of care for all cancer patients. I will refrain from revealing my favourite chocolate bar, although members will have probably noticed that there are clearly several. I can echo the thanks to Donald Cameron for bringing this motion before Parliament today and providing members with the opportunity to not only mark the forthcoming World Cancer Day but also to debate probably the most pressing public health issue facing Scotland today—that of obesity. Our complex and fast-moving modern world is exposing children to ever more sophisticated commercial pressures and changes to diet and lifestyle means that unhealthy lifestyle has become the default option. The consequence for Scotland is that the highest rates of obesity in the UK and amongst the highest of any OECD country. Two-thirds of Scotland's adults are classed as being overweight and, shamefully, almost a third of children are at risk of becoming overweight. As Anas Sarwar and Alison Johnstone have highlighted, we know that there is a clear link between deprivation and obesity. A quarter of children, aged four to five from the most deprived areas, are at risk of being overweight compared to around 18 per cent of children from the least deprived areas. If we want to tackle health inequalities, we need to tackle wealth inequalities. What does the obesity crisis mean for our nation's health? We know that obesity is linked to a whole number of health issues, including, as the motion says, 13 different types of cancer. In fact, obesity reduces life expectancy by an average of three years and severe obesity by between eight and ten years. It is now six years since the Scottish Government published its obesity route map, and although it provides a positive policy framework, it is clear that the route map's action plan has not reached its milestone. Successful policy initiatives are often not scaled up to make a significant impact, and a number of interventions that focus on attitudes and behaviour significantly outweigh those based on regulation. The Scottish Government's promise to consult on a new strategy, therefore, is therefore very welcome. In the words of obesity action Scotland, it needs to be brave and bold. As cancer research UK also says, this strategy presents a once-in-a-generation chance to scale down cancer in Scotland. In my view, that means that any new strategy must ensure that the proceeds of any sugar tax are invested in after-school sports. It also means that considering better regulation to tackle the fact that, as Alison Johnstone said, over 40 per cent of food in the UK is bought on promotion. The highest rate in Europe and the vast majority of that promoted food is, of course, junk food. A new obesity strategy also means ensuring that we have a comprehensive cross-governmental strategy to tackle the root causes of obesity inequality. However, as Donald Cameron highlighted, not every case of ill health can always be prevented through a change of diet and lifestyle, and that includes cancer. I want to briefly touch on the importance of early diagnosis. Detecting cancer at the early stages is, in many cases, the intervention that is required to ensure that it can be successfully treated. For example, cancer research UK's own studies have shown that nine out of 10 bulk cancer patients will survive for more than five years if diagnosed at the earliest stage of the disease. This debate and world cancer day provides us with an opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of regular cancer screenings and also of speaking to your GP should you feel that something is amiss. When someone is diagnosed, of course, with cancer, the next step is ensuring the best possible treatment. For people living in rural areas, that can often involve travelling some distance and spending time away from their loved ones. Many patients from Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders receive radiotherapy treatment at the western infirmary in Edinburgh. To avoid having to make the long journey to and from their home on a daily basis or take up a bed and a medical ward, patients are able to stay overnight at Pentland Lodge next to the hospital if they are well enough to leave the ward. I have spoken to many constituents who have stayed at Pentland Lodge who talk about the benefits of the invaluable peer support that they receive and how it helps them to adapt time for themselves and their families. However, NHS Lothian is considering changing the use of Pentland Lodge, which is likely to mean families from Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders are no longer able to stay there when receiving treatment. I make an appeal to the minister and the Scottish Government to support the campaign by local families in Dumfries and Galloway and ensure that Pentland Lodge is retained for patients receiving treatment at the western infirmary. Finally, I thank once again Donald for bringing this motion before the Parliament. As co-convener of the Parliament's cross-party group on cancer, I congratulate my colleague Donald Cameron on securing today's important debate ahead of World Cancer Day. I am pleased to take part in it this evening. I also thank those organisations that have provided us with useful briefings for today's debate, including Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. Our cancer cross-party group recently heard from Professor Linda Bould, Professor of Health Policy at the University of Stirling, about cancer prevention. She outlined how, with good health, four in ten cancers are preventable, in particular highlighting that obesity is the single largest cause of preventable cancer in Scotland after smoking, as has been mentioned already. I commend Professor Bould for the excellent work that she is undertaking on cancer prevention. It is estimated that obesity is responsible for around 18,100 cancers in the UK every year. If current trends continue, it will lead to a further 670,000 cancer cases over the next 20 years. It is that number that we really need to hold in our minds that 670,000 preventable cancers are potentially out there. There is also a concern that the lack of awareness around the risks of being overweight and obese, with only one in four adults reporting that they are aware of this being a factor and a cause of cancer. The motion today emphasises the scale of the challenge that we face, given that so many adults and children are overweight and obese, especially in our more deprived communities across Scotland. It is of real concern that the gap between the least and most deprived is widening when it comes to obesity and ill health in Scotland today. Scotland also has the worst weight outcomes in all of the UK nations and, indeed, is one of the worst-performing in any OECD nation. It is clear therefore that the Scottish Government's forthcoming obesity strategy must be as comprehensive as possible and offer practical policies around the twin themes of diet and exercise. That is something that I have been heartened to see every party in this chamber have been bringing forward ideas to try to strengthen that as much as we possibly can. The Health and Sport Committee, as Donald Cameron has mentioned, has been taking evidence in advance of the strategy. It is clear that it must offer a joined-up approach that works across all portfolios in this chamber, both education, local government and transport, as well as the health portfolio. As we heard today in evidence to the committee, it proposes cuts to the sports budget, which is potentially going to impact as much as encouraging people into grass-roots sport. I hope that the minister will comment on that as she responds to the debate, but it is something that we need to look at across how we encourage people to take part in sport and even walking and how we change our lives. To some extent, this Parliament is one of the worst examples that we come in and sit in our offices all day long, apart from when we go down to have our lunch. It is how we transform workplaces across Scotland as much as anything else. I agree with Cancer Research UK that the strategy must also be underpinned by clear and enforceable targets and interventions that are robustly monitored and evaluated, as well as the critical importance of tackling obesity in the population. If we are going to scale down cancer by slowing the rise of cancer incidents, Macmillan Cancer Support's briefing today rightly points out that it is important to understand just how valuable physical exercise is for people who are diagnosed with cancer. I repeat what Anna Sarwar has said. Physical exercise can, in some cases, significantly reduce the risk of dying from cancer, and Macmillan Cancer is right to call for physical activity to become a standard part of care for cancer patients. That is another area where the cancer strategy needs to be improved. The charity's excellent move-more programme for exercise, which has been mentioned, for cancer sufferers, is currently running in Edinburgh and some other areas across Scotland. It is important that patients are signposted to those and similar services across Scotland. Macmillan also seeks comprehensive rehabilitation services, which include physiotherapy, exercise and referral, commissioned schemes in leisure centres and signposting to walking and other exercise groups. I reinforce that point and hope that that is something that we can see improved. Once again, I welcome to the debate, which I hope will further inform the development of the Government's obesity strategy, a strategy that is a real opportunity and which must be successful if we are to reduce the incidence of cancer and many other preventable diseases. I am sure that it is just a coincidence that, when Jackson Carlaw was reflecting on the weight and fitness of MSPs, my fitbit was buzzing to tell me to get moving, so perhaps we would need to be more mobile during debates. I, too, would like to join colleagues by paying thanks to Donald Cameron for bringing forward this motion to Parliament tonight. World Cancer Day, like this debate, will be an important opportunity to highlight the impact that cancer has on everyone's life in some way or another. As members of Parliament, we have a particular responsibility over the course of this parliamentary term to explore what decisions and actions can be taken here in Scotland to reduce the prevalence of cancer and the impact it has on people and communities. As we learn more about the causes of cancer, it is becoming easier for policy makers to identify possible actions that could be taken to prevent the onset of ill health. The more evidence that is gathered, the more we can state with certainty that, in so many cases, cancer and ill health more generally are the result of structured inequality and deprivation. With that convincing and ever-increasing body of evidence comes an increasing responsibility on us all, especially those in positions of power, to think about how we can work together to eradicate that inequality. Evidence from cancer research UK that four in ten cancers are preventable is a shocking statistic. 40 per cent of cancers in Scotland are preventable, which would mean that almost 13,000 of the people who were diagnosed with cancer in Scotland last year could have been prevented from becoming ill. Colleagues have stated that obesity, after smoking, is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer in Scotland and has been linked to 13 different types of cancer. Cancer research UK tells us that those include some of the most common cancers, including breast and biocancers. Despite that, only a quarter of Scottish adults are aware that being overweight can cause cancer. In the last few months, I have had my own personal experience of a cancer scare when I discovered a lump in my breast. After going to my doctor and being referred to the hospital breast clinic, I was lucky and relieved to be told that it was a cyst. I was lucky to get referred quickly and that it did not turn out to be cancer. Due to the fantastic awareness-raising campaigns of breast cancer charities here in Scotland, I became more familiar during my early months here as an MSP with the importance of self-examination and understanding prevention a lot better. I have increased my activity levels. I have got a fit bit. I am out walking even when it is raining. When I heard Alex Cole-Hamilton on the radio this morning being grilled about politics and saying one thing, he did admit on live radio that some MSPs are a bit overweight, but it makes us all very conscious and self-conscious about our own behaviours. My experience and initial reluctance and fear about investigating what was wrong made me think twice about awareness-raising and what more can be done to encourage people to not just have the confidence to get checked out early but also to have the confidence to change behaviours and make different choices, because we know that the earlier cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat. One of the things that I want to say as I watch the timer in a way is that to tackle some of those problems, we need to have more joined up thinking across Government. I am a charter town planner and member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, but one of the debates that we have tomorrow in Parliament is looking at the forthcoming planning bill. There is a real opportunity to embed how we assess health and wellbeing into planning applications, because I think that we have had in some of our briefings the impact about the environment around us and how that affects our health and our choices. Tackling obesity is complex. It is not an easy task, but there are actions that can be taken that will help to reduce the risks. It is a responsibility in all the parties in the chamber to work constructively in an attempt to address that. From the tone of debate today, I think that that commitment is there. Thank you very much. I call on the minister to wind up the debate. Seven minutes, please, are there abouts. I thank Donald Cameron for introducing the motion and also welcome Cancer Research UK to the Parliament today and this evening. In reading the motion, I was interested in the last line of Donald's motion of showing support with a unity band, and those risk bands have a knot to represent a strength in unity. It is symbolic in a number of ways for us in the chamber tonight. Firstly, how united this Parliament is on tackling cancer, shown in today's contributions through the good work that is being taken forward by the cross-party group on cancer, and also because, as Donald Cameron rightly stated, we are almost someone who has had their life impacted by cancer, and in Donald's case, sadly, that impact of cancer is felt incredibly closely. Secondly, we need unity if we wish to tackle, as this Government does, the complex issue of obesity. Success will require not only a commitment from individuals, but it also requires the support of both our public and private institutions and right across this Parliament if we want to enable more people, more often, to make the right choice to eat less, to eat better and to move more. To avoid the fries creams, the spangles, the opal fruits and a whole host of other things that we listed this evening and to instead opt for something a bit healthier there. However, Annas Sarmer unfortunately stole my line about the uncanny resemblance that we all imagine around Jackson Carlaw bearing to the Milky Bar kid. I want to thank Cancer Research UK, who have thrown themselves into ensuring that we all know that there is a well-established link between cancer and obesity, and therefore a compelling need for action, a point that I discussed with them when we met last week to consider the Government's commitment towards a new diet and obesity strategy. The Scottish Government fully recognises the damaging impact that cancer has on individuals, their families and friends. However, we also recognise that significant progress has been made. Over the past 10 years, the overall cancer mortality rate has fallen by 11 per cent. That improvement is thanks to the efforts of people across our NHS in primary and acute care to oncology, social care and the third sector. However, we do recognise that there is a need to do much more to reduce the risk factors for cancer. Last March, the Scottish Government launched our cancer strategy, beating cancer, ambition and action, which serves as a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland and is backed by £100 million of investment. The strategy has embedded within it a set of very clear ambitions and actions at reducing the risk factors for cancer in Scotland. We want to create a generation of young people who do not want to smoke with an aim of reducing smoking prevalence to 5 per cent or less by 2034. We want to reduce alcohol-related harm by helping to prevent problems arising in the first place and make it easier for people to be more active to eat less and to eat better. We also want to help people to make healthier choices and to reduce their exposure to UV radiation. However, regarding obesity, we are tackling the food environment that causes obesity, with work in our schools, in our communities and, importantly, with the food and drink industry through our supporting healthy choices framework, which encourages a range of action, including labelling and reformulation of products. We are also continuing with campaigns to encourage healthy eating, and I launched the most recent phase of our Eat Better, Feel Better campaign, which is aimed at supporting parents on the thorny issue of children and eating their greens. Mary, Todd and Jackson Carlaw made reference to childhood obesity, and they both discussed in their own way the rights and wrongs of our call for a junk food ban before the 9 p.m watershed. However, the fact that it is important to remember is that we need a whole range of actions to ensure that the unnecessary exposure to unhealthy choices for our children and our youngest members of society is reduced, and to help parents and support them around what their children eat and to encourage them to do it. However, I should know that my own son has given me 17 of his own ideas for our obesity strategy. I think that it is tough, and this chamber sometimes is even more tough at home with the demands of my child, but I will certainly be sure to take note of his very good ideas. However, I want to highlight two pieces of work. One shows that change to the food environment can be made, and another shows that we are developing our services to support people to make the necessary changes. First is the healthcare retail standard, which is bringing positive change to retail outlets and hospitals. With the Scottish Grocer's Federation and Food Standards Scotland, we have established a standard that requires 50 per cent of all products sold to be from a healthy range, and that restricts promotions on items that are high in fat, sugar and salt. I had the pleasure of visiting the first Royal Voluntary Service shop to meet that standard in Edinburgh. I was impressed by what we can achieve in partnership to create an environment where the healthy choice is the normal choice, as Marie Todd said, making that healthy choice the easier one to go for. I would certainly recommend to the committee members and also members more generally that they should maybe have a visit to that shop as well to see what is possible. Secondly, we know that if women prevent weight gain or lose a little bit, it will help to reduce their risk of breast cancer. Over 175,000 women attend breast screening programmes each year, which provides an opportunity to give lifestyle advice and support for women when they attend the screening. However, a greater understanding of the benefits and impacts are needed to know whether that type of approach works. Therefore, we are supporting the act well initiative, with up to £1 million of funding over the next five years, to provide a personalised breast cancer risk reduction programme to women attended routine breast screening clinics. That programme will be fully tested for effectiveness and potential for wider roll-out. Again, I would put on record my thanks to Monica Lennon for sharing her story. It cannot have been an easy thing to do or to have gone through, but the process that you have gone through and talking about it again helps us to raise awareness for other women across the country. Alongside that, I think that Alison Johnstone is also right to highlight the challenges around obesity in pregnancy as well, which will be something else that we will need to take notice of as we develop the strategy. As we develop our new strategy on diet and obesity, which I agree is a real opportunity, we will look to learn from the work that has gone on before, at a point that I think that Jackson Carlaw implored us to do, taking on board the lessons from the past on smoking and alcohol and physical activity. To be bold as we have been with minimum unit pricing, to be multifaceted as we were with physical activity and in the long term as the progress shown across different administrations has shown for smoking. The benefits to be grasped are personal, societal and economic, and I am pleased that there is a clear unity of recognition on the need to take action on obesity. I would like to finish by reiterating the importance of spreading the word far and wide that cancer can be prevented. I would like to briefly talk about the walking strategy, which has delivered benefits and the daily mile roll-out to workplaces. Perhaps we can be the first Parliament to embrace that as an opportunity and to stop the sedentary lifestyle that we have in Parliament. I will also put on record that the SPFL tonight is hosting a recognition and we commend the football fans in training as a project that is well worthy of taking notice of the impact that they have had in helping people who are harder to reach lose a considerable amount of weight. By supporting healthier lifestyle choices, such as promoting better diets and encouraging a healthy respect for alcohol, providing support to help people to quit smoking and by championing the benefits of physical activity, we can make a real difference to the lives of the people of Scotland now and in the future. Again, we would like to put on record our thanks to Cancer Research UK Linda Bald and a whole host of others who are articulating that link between obesity and cancer and allowing us to come together as a Parliament, unite together to make sure that cancer does not have to be inevitable, it is not out with our control and we can, if we work together, find ways to prevent it.