Being overweight and obese puts people at greater risk of being diagnosed with 10 common cancers, reports say.
In a new study published in the Lancet, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine monitored the health of 5 million people living in the U.K. over a period of seven years. For every 28 to 35 pounds of extra weight, an average adult had a greater risk of six cancers— uterine, gallbladder, kidney, cervical, thyroid and leukemia. The degree of risk varied by tumor type.
For study participants who had a high body mass index (BMI), they were also more likely to develop liver, colon, ovarian, and post-menopausal breast cancer.
While obesity was associated with developing the most common cancers, researchers noted that some cancers showed no link at all.
"There was tons of variation in the effect of BMI on different cancers,” said lead researcher Dr. Krishnan Bhaskaran. "For example, risk of cancer of the uterus increased substantially at higher body mass index, for other cancer, we saw a more modest increase in risk or no effect at all. This variation tells us BMI must affect cancer risk through a number of different processes, depending on cancer type.”