Obese adolescents may be at least twice as likely to develop colorectal cancer in their fifties than normal weight adolescents. This statistical conclusion comes from a study by American and Swedish researchers published in the journal Gut, Specialized section of the British Medical Journal.
The team monitored the health of 239,658 Swedes, called up between 1969 and 1976 for military service, when they were between the ages of 16 and 20. The participants’ height and weight were measured, as well as their body’s sedimentation state, a factor that measures inflammation in the body.
At the start of military service, only 5% of participants were in overweight of which 1% were obese. The remaining 93% were of normal weight or low BMI.
An adult of normal weight has a body mass index between 18.5 and 25, while an individual is overweight if their BMI is over 25, and obese over 30.
Over the next 35 years, the researchers observed that among the sample, 885 Swedes developed colorectal cancer, including 501 a Cancer colon and 384 rectal cancer.
The study also revealed that participants who were obese in adolescence were 2.38 times more likely to develop colorectal cancer later than individuals of normal weight.
The results also showed an increased risk of colorectal cancer (increased by about 63%) in young recruits with a higher sedimentation rate, in other words more inflammation.
“These results suggest thatBMI High and inflammation in adolescence are risk factors for colorectal cancer, ”the authors said. However, they specify that further studies will be needed to confirm these data and understand how these factors increase the risk of colorectal cancer. As for weight loss in adulthood, researchers do not yet know if it can have a positive effect on the risk of colorectal cancer.
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