New Study Confirms Weight is a Major Cancer Risk Factor

That’s simple.  Overweight really is one of the most important health issues of our time, and much like tobacco in the middle part of the last century – unless we make some big strides against today’s weight problem, generations will experience a greatly decreased quality of life and greatly increased rates of conditions like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer.  By keeping the issue upfront in articles, journals, and on social media, we can help push for policy changes and shifts in public attitude that will help address the obesity epidemic – much like we did with tobacco.  We’ve seen some very small positive steps recently on the obesity front, but we need to keep up – and expand on – these efforts.  

A study out today further confirms why.  Building on results from previous studies, researchers with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published an analysis in The Lancet showing that increases in weight raise the risk of 11 different cancer, including esophageal, colon, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, breast (post-menopause), cervical, uterine, ovarian, and kidney cancers, as well as leukemia.  Even for those in the healthy weight range (BMI of 18.5 – 24.9; or someone 5′ 9″ weighing 125 – 168 pounds), an increase of just one BMI point, say from 23 up to 24, was linked to an increased risk of cancer.

The researchers also calculated the percent of specific cancers likely caused by being obese or overweight (figure).  Five percent of all breast cancers diagnosed after menopause were linked to weight, as well as 11 percent of all colon cancers.  Each of these cancers is quite common.  Less common – but still very important – cancers had much greater percentages linked to weight.

In an accompanying editorial, titled Obesity: a certain and avoidable cause of cancer, Peter Campbell of the American Cancer Society concludes:

“We have sufficient evidence that obesity is an important cause of unnecessary suffering and death from many forms of cancer, in addition to the well recognised increased risks of mortality and morbidity from many other causes. More research is not needed to justify, or even demand, policy changes aimed at curbing overweight and obesity.”

We certainly agree.  It’s time to act more forcefully for prevention.  Yet, even though disease prevention is increasingly listed as a public health priority, funding and political backing for prevention programs still often lag behind fields like treatment and diagnosis. If we are to truly make headway in the fight against obesity and other key risk factors, prevention needs funding and political will commensurate with its large potential to reduce future disease burden.