The Latest News on the Obesity Epidemic
New consequences and what you can do about it.
A study, published this week in Vital Signs, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and based on data from the 2005-2014 United States Cancer Statistics, confirms that being overweight puts a person at significantly higher risk for cancer. It found that:
“Two in three US adults weigh more than recommended.
Overweight and obesity are associated with at least 13 types of cancer: Breast cancer, thyroid, liver, gallbladder cancer, adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, upper stomach, kidney, pancreas, colon and rectum, ovaries, uterus cancer, multiple myeloma and meningioma.
More than 630,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with a cancer associated with overweight and obesity which is about 40% of all US cancers.
About 2 in 3 cancers occur in adults 50-74 years old.
Most types of these cancers associated with overweight and obesity increased from 2005-2014 while cancers not associated with overweight decreased.
More than half of Americans don’t know that overweight and obesity can increase their risk for cancer.”
But it is difficult for Americans to lose weight.
© Dr. Chris Gilbert, MD, PhD
Originally Published on Psychology Today
