In the United States, cancers linked to obesity are said to be on the increase and appear earlier and earlier. This is the worrying finding of an American Cancer Society study published in The Lancet Public Health this Monday February 4. Researchers looked at data for 12 cancers linked to obesity, as well as 18 that are not. They found an upward trend among adults aged 24 to 49 between 1995 and 2014.
An increase accentuating among the youngest
Scientists have indeed analyzed twenty years of data on the incidence of 30 cancers in 25 states, from the bottom up Cancer in North America, covering 67% of the cases of the American population. In the end, the risk of cancer increased in young adults for half of the cancers linked to obesity: colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney cancer. , bone marrow, pancreas and multiple myeloma. Most of its pathologies are usually seen in older patients in their sixties.
For example, the risk of colorectal, endometrial, pancreatic and gallbladder cancer among Millennials was about twice that of baby boomers at the same time. Age. “This increase is gradually accentuated in younger and younger ages”, worries Ahmedin Jemal, main author of the study questioned by CNN.
In contrast, among younger people, the rates of cancers unrelated to obesity have declined or stabilized, including those associated with smoking and infections. Only the gastrointestinal cancer and leukemia have increased in these age groups.
Obesity, a risk factor for cancer
“Excess weight is a known carcinogen, associated with more than a dozen cancers and suspected in several others, say the researchers in a press release. A growing body of evidence supports an association between obesity in children and adolescents and the increased risk of colorectal, endometrial, pancreatic and multiple myeloma cancers. TO” The World Health Organization (WHO) has qualified obesity as “ Growing epidemic », with nearly two billion adults considered to be overweight in the world.
A poor diet, rich in processed foods, and little physical exercise have contributed to the youngest weighing more and more with the generations. According to British research, 7 out of 10 people born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s are likely to be overweight or obese in their mid-30s or 40s. Only 5 in 10 baby boomers were of the same age.
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