Did You Know? Excess Weight And Cancer Risk
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Did you know
that excess weight is associated
with an increased risk
of cancer?
The Body Mass Index, or BMI,
is an estimate of human body fat
and is based
on a person's height and weight.
An adult at a healthy weight has
a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9.
An adult with a BMI of 25
to 29.9 is overweight.
If their BMI is 30 or higher,
they are considered obese.
Between 2000 and 2010,
the percent of American adults
who were overweight
or obese increased
from about 50 percent
to over 60 percent.
The percent of overweight
and obese adults was highest
in the South,
followed by the Midwest,
the Northeast, and the West.
Research studies show
that overweight people have a 13
to 18 percent greater risk
than healthy weight people
of being diagnosed
with postmenopausal breast
cancer, pancreatic cancer,
or colorectal cancer.
Compared with people
at a healthy weight,
those who are overweight have a
30 to 60 percent increased risk
of kidney cancer,
esophageal adenocarcinoma,
or uterine endometrial cancer.
For obese individuals,
the risk of developing these
cancers is about double
that of overweight people.
In addition
to many other health benefits,
working towards
or maintaining a healthy weight
through good nutrition
and exercise may reduce your
risk of certain cancers.
