Almost 5,000 people die from bowel cancer each year making it one of Australia's biggest cancer killers. Yet many people do not know that a healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of this disease.

The Cancer Council Australia  has developed a public health campaign which links the three elements of good nutrition, physical activity and healthy body weight with bowel cancer prevention.

Professor Dallas English from The Cancer Council Victoria's Cancer Epidemiology Centre said the best recipe for cancer prevention was maintaining a healthy body weight, being active every day and reducing the overall intake of energy.

The waist measurement is the best indicator in assessing whether or not you are in the healthy weight range. The waist measurement should be below 94cm for men and below 80cm for women.

HealthInsite has a topic area on bowel cancer with links to information on risk factors and treatments. HealthInsite's topic areas on diet and overweight, diet and cancer and exercise, fitness and sports also have links to a range of useful information on getting fit.

The Healthy and Active Quizzes topic page links to quizzes that can help you assess your body weight, food and exercise habits.

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They warn that detoxing can be dangerous for groups such as teenagers or pregnant women, who cannot afford to deprive themselves of food groups.

Ursula Arens, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association says Detox is a meaningless term that is used all the time, and because it hasn't been defined, it's impossible to say if it works or no.

She says all food is made up of chemicals, and all our body does with food is a chemical reaction, and the body is set up to deal with the chemicals it doesn't want, and excrete them.

Claire Williamson, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, emphasises that no single food can provide all the nutrients that the body needs, and therefore it is important to consume a balanced and varied diet in order to obtain adequate amounts of energy, protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre required for good health.

Cutting out complete food groups, she says, in the long term, may have adverse effects on an individual's health.