This Incredibly-Common Risk Factor Is Linked To A Whopping 40 Percent Of Cancers In The U.S.
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It’s no secret that obesity is a problem in the U.S. A large study published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year found that 26.5 percent of Americans are obese. Currently, two out of three Americans is considered overweight or obese, the report says.
Find out what you must do the next time you go to the doctor:
According to the report, more than half of Americans don’t know that being overweight or obese increases their risk for cancer. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has found that the following cancers are linked to being overweight or obese:
- meningioma
- multiple myeloma
- adenocarcinoma of the esophagus
- thyroid cancer
- postmenopausal breast cancer
- gallbladder cancer
- stomach cancer
- liver cancer
- pancreatic cancer
- kidney cancer
- ovarian cancer
- uterine cancer
- colorectal cancer
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Women are more likely to be impacted by this link than men: The report found that 55 percent of all cancers diagnosed in women and 24 percent of those diagnosed in men were linked with being overweight or obese.
Weight is a complicated topic, but the report urges people to try to eat a healthy diet and get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week to try to help maintain a healthy weight.
Of course, cancer is a complicated disease and being diagnosed with any of these cancers or cancer in general doesn’t mean it’s your fault. There are many, many factors that can cause cancer, including genetics. A 2015 study from Johns Hopkins University, for example, found that two-thirds of all adult cancer cases can be linked to random gene mutations that cause tumors to grow.
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Still, there are some things you can do to lower your overall cancer risk, and one of them is maintaining a healthy weight. If you’re struggling to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, talk to your doctor. They should be able to guide you on next steps.