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College
Weight May
Affect Later Cancer Risks
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Overweight college students are at increased risk of developing
deadly cancers of the breast and prostate later in life, British
researchers report.
The results suggest that the "freshman 15" may not be so harmless,
especially since increasing numbers of young adults are already
entering college with excess pounds.
"The increasing prevalence
of childhood obesity may result in increased mortality in future
years," study author Dr. Mona Okasha of the University of Bristol
and colleagues write in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health. "Early adulthood may provide an opportunity during which
health behaviors such as dietary and exercise patterns may be
more amenable to change than in later life, and impact beneficially
on future health."
The study involved more
than 10,500 students who had a medical exam, which included measurements
of weight and height, at the University of Glasgow's student health
service between 1948 and 1968.
During an average follow-up
of about 40 years, 339 men and 82 women died of cancer, death
certificates showed. The researchers then looked to see whether
each individual's body mass index, or BMI--a standardized measure
that takes into account weight and height--during college was
tied to risk of cancer death later on. BMI is calculated by weight
in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A healthy BMI
for adults is 18.5 to 24.9.
Results showed that a
high college BMI was linked to cancer deaths, specifically those
from breast and prostate cancers.
Women who were the most
overweight in early adulthood were nearly four times more likely
to die from breast cancer than their leanest counterparts. And
the most overweight men faced a 50% increased risk of dying from
prostate cancer, according to the findings.
Just how excess weight
contributes to breast and prostate cancers is unclear though there
are several possibilities, the researchers said. In the case of
breast cancer, for instance, excess estrogen produced by fat cells
may fuel the growth of tumors, they explained. And animal studies
have suggested that a high intake of calories is associated with
cancer mortality.
SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology
and Community Health 2002;56:780-784.
Reference
Source 89
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