Fitness Watch: Weight At 18 Linked To Cancer In Men Decades Later, UK

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Weight At 18 Linked To Cancer In Men Decades Later, UK

Public health researchers, based at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, have identified a link between men being overweight or obese at age 18 and death from cancer in later life. The study shows the link is apparent even if they reduce their weight during middle age.

The Medical Research Council researchers, in collaboration with researchers at University College London (UCL) and Harvard School of Public Health, analysed the medical records of around 20,000 male graduates who attended Harvard between 1916 and 1950.

They found that the men in the study who had the highest body mass indexes (BMIs) at age 18 were 35 per cent more likely to die from cancer than those with lower BMIs. The associations between weight and cancer were particularly strong for lung, skin, oesophageal and urogenital (kidney, bladder, prostate and testicular) cancers. For example, men whose BMI had been greater than the average (21.7) at age 18 had more than a 50 per cent greater risk of dying from lung cancer than those with the lowest BMIs, even after accounting for whether or not they smoked. Importantly, an individual's changes in BMI between early adulthood and middle age did not influence these effects. The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health and will be published in the journal Annals of Oncology.

Medical Research Council researcher Dr Linsay Gray, lead author of the study, said:

"This is the first time the impact of obesity in early adulthood on later risk of cancer has been so closely examined. It is very interesting that higher BMI at age 18 actually leads to a greater risk for cancer than higher BMI in middle age. The message here is really clear: keeping your weight healthy as a young adult can significantly reduce your chance of developing cancer. These findings point worryingly to a greater future burden of cancer."