A new report reveals over half a million new cancer cases around the world can be linked to a high Body Mass Index (BMI).
The research showed cancer caused by being overweight or obese is much more prevalent in developed countries and is most common in North America, reported the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The U.S saw an estimated 111,000 obesity-related cancers in 2012, which accounts for 23 percent of the total global cancer burden linked to high BMI. Europe has about 65,000 cases, accounting for about 6.5 percent of the new cancer cases in the region.
The countries with the highest cancer burden linked to overweight or obesity in men are: "Czech Republic (5.5 percent of the country's new cancer cases), Jordan (4.5 percent), the United Kingdom (4.4 percent), and Malta (4.4 percent). In women the countries with the highest weight-related cancer burden were: Barbados (12.7 percent), the Czech Republic (12.0 percent), and Puerto Rico (11.6 percent). In the U.S. 3.5 percent of new cancer cases related to weight in men and 9,5 percent in women.
"In China only 1.6 percent of new cancer cases are believed to be related to being overweight or obese; only 1.5 percent of the cancer cases across the entire continent of Africa are related to a high BMI."
"Overall, we see that while the number of cancer cases associated with overweight and obesity remains highest in richer countries, similar effects are already visible in parts of the developing world," said Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, one of the study's lead authors and the project's principal investigator.
The findings highlight the need to make an effort to promote healthy BMI across the globe in an effort to reduce those preventable cancer cases.
"The number of cancers linked to obesity and overweight is expected to rise globally along with economic development," said IARC Director Dr. Christopher Wild. "This study stresses the importance of putting in place efficient weight control measures, to curb the high number of cancers associated with excess body weight and to avoid the problems faced by rich countries being repeated in those now undergoing rapid development."
