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Obesity is linked to hike in cancer cases
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SHANGHAI’S health authorities said yesterday that the number of cancer patients in the city was on the rise with about 60,000 new cases reported in the city every year, of which 16,000 of them were linked to overweight and obesity.
The rate of overweight and obesity had grown from 34 percent in 2007 to 42 percent, giving rise to the number of breast and colon cancer — the second leading cancer in Shanghai after lung cancer, according to officials from Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Studies have found that overweight and obesity were factors linked to cancers of the colorectal, pancreas, kidney, women’s uterus, ovary and breast cancer after menopause. These cancers account for one fourth of the new cancer cases every year in the world.
Health officials said maintaining a healthy weight through proper diet and exercises can not only prevent cancer but also reduce the mortality rates among cancer patients.
A 10-year study conducted by Shanghai CDC on breast cancer patients in the city found that doing 2.5 hours of moderate intensity exercises every week can bring down the mortality rates by 36 percent than those who gave up physical activity three years after the diagnosis.
“Compared to men, women are more at risks of cancer if they are overweight, especially after 45 years,” said Dr Zheng Ying, the director of Shanghai CDC’s cancer prevention and control department.
A multi-national study published last year in leading medical journal Lancet said 481,000, or 3.6 percent, of the 14 million new cancer cases reported in 2012 globally were linked to overweight or obesity, with women accounting for as much as 72 percent.
Cancer in overweight women led to breast, uterus and colon cancer, while breast cancer usually happened after menopause.
According to Shanghai CDC, 26 percent of local adult women were overweight and 9 percent obese. Though the rate of overweight and obesity was only half among males who were 45 years of age, the rate rose quickly among women who were over 45. “The effects of overweight and obesity are usually seen after 10 to 20 years, so it is important to keep a healthy weight since youth and maintain a healthy lifestyle in life,” Zheng said.
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