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Date Posted: 03:46:16 08/23/04 Mon
Author: J.R.Smith, c.f.t.,s.f.t., p.n.s. - ISSA, USSA, ISFN
Subject: College Weight May Affect Later Cancer Risk



College Weight May Affect Later Cancer Risk


Reuters Health

Thursday, September 19, 2002



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.

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