Health aNd Fitness Guide

Obesity may be linked to cancers of the breast, colon, thyroid, uterus, kidney, esophagus, and gallbladder. Researchers at the University of Manchester analyzed 282,137 cases of cancer to establish a link between different cancers and Body Mass Index. In men, an increase in BMI showed an increased risk of esophageal cancer by 52 percent, thyroid cancer by 33 per cent, and colon and kidney cancers by 24 per cent. In women, excessive weight gain was linked to a 59 per cent increase in endometrial and gallbladder cancers, 51 per cent increase of esophageal tumors, and 34 per cent increase in kidney cancers. Obesity also led to an increased risk of rectal cancer and malignant melanoma in men and post menopausal breast, pancreatic, thyroid and colon cancers in women. The study does not state that obesity causes cancer. But Dr Walter C. Willette of the Harvard School of Public Health has warned that obesity will overtake smoking as a leading cause of cancer.