Researchers from the World Cancer Research Fund have said that obesity is a far bigger cause of cancer than previously estimated. Their study says that of 7 main cancers (breast, pancreas, kidney, womb lining, gall bladder, bowel and oesophagus) 17% of cases are linked to excess fat.
Previous figures released by the charity Cancer Research UK were 50% lower than these new estimates. The World Cancer Research Fund says that over the past ten years, evidence linking cancer and being overweight have become much stronger. Professor Martin Wiseman, medical advisor to the charity, warned that as the number of obese patients increases, the problem is only going to worsen.
A second survey from the World Health Organisation has shed light why the West is having such difficulty keeping weight at normal levels. Comparing U.S data from the 1970s to the early years at the start of the new millennium, they discovered that while exercise levels have barely changed, calorie intake has increased by 500 calories a day.
Professor Wiseman suggested that as a survey had recently shown that 40% of people were unaware of the danger that their weight could lead to cancer, more needed to be done to educate people about the associated risks of weight. The charity has said that people should be aiming for a Body Mass Index, the measure of obesity calculated by using a combination of height to weight, of between 18.5 to 24.9.