i had to rewrite that a little, because the statistics are written in such a way to emphasize smoking and de-emphasize obesity as causes of cancer. the reason for this is that smoking is seen as unacceptable nowadays, whereas there is still a lot of retarded political correctness around obesity.

so, the statistics will say "smoking" as what it is, but will split obesity into five or six categories. the result is something like this:

smoking - 20%

obesity - 13%

diet - 6%

low exercise - 4%

but what that really says is

obesity - 23%

smoking - 20% 

i don't want to split hairs. obesity and smoking are both major public health problems, and both major causes of cancer, heart disease and other health problems. i'm happy to adjust the language.

but obesity is in truth the larger problem, because it is getting worse, and smoking rates are coming down. there are still a lot of boomers that have to die in the next few decades, but those statistics are going to be dramatically different in a couple of years. obesity is going to shoot up to the top of that list very soon and be the leading cause of cancer by a good margin by 2040.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-45619041