Cancer survivors at higher risk of obesity

Cancer survivors obesityCancer survivors are more likely to be obese, according to new findings. Obesity rates were found to be highest among breast and colon cancer survivors. The study looked at data from nearly 539,000 American adults.

Of those with no history of cancer, only 21 percent were considered obese in 1997, increasing to 29 percent in 2014. Among cancer survivors obesity rate jumped from 22 percent in 1997 to 32 percent in 2014.

Advertisement

Colon cancer survivors had the largest increase in obesity rates, followed by breast cancer survivors. Obesity rates were particularly high among black survivors.

Principal investigator Heather Greenlee said, “While our findings can be partially explained by the growing population of patients with breast and colorectal cancer – the two cancers most closely linked to obesity – we identified additional populations of cancer survivors at risk of obesity not as well understood and which require further study.”

“These results suggest that obesity is a growing public health burden for cancer survivors, which requires targeted interventions including weight management efforts to stave off the increasing obesity trends we are seeing in cancer survivors,” Greenlee concluded.


Sources:
https://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/obesity-health-news-505/obesity-cancer-survivors-jco-columbia-release-batch-2814-713771.html


Author Bio

Mohan Garikiparithi got his degree in medicine from Osmania University (University of Health Sciences). He practiced clinical medicine for over a decade before he shifted his focus to the field of health communications. During his active practice he served as the head of the Dept. of Microbiology in a diagnostic centre in India. On a three-year communications program in Germany, Mohan developed a keen interest in German Medicine (Homoeopathy), and other alternative systems of medicine. He now advocates treating different medical conditions without the use of traditional drugs. An ardent squash player, Mohan believes in the importance of fitness and wellness.

Advertisement

Popular Stories