We all know that obesity rates are up world-wide. But Chinese researchers have just completed a new survey showing rates of obesity-related cancers are soaring. And that bodes ill for all of us, who have to pay the growing cost of health care…
Not just obese: Also at sharply higher risk of 12 common cancers…
What they did
A team led by Dr. Jin-Kui Yang, the paper’s Corresponding Author and an endocrinologist at Capital Medical University in Beijing, surveyed all cancer cases reported in China between 2007 and 2019. Over that period, China recorded more than 651,000 cancer cases. Almost half were identified as one of the 12 obesity-related cancers recognized by the World Health Organization.
What they found
The team found that cancer rates rose more sharply during the latter part of the study period.
“Notably, obesity-related cancer incidence increased by 3.6 percent per year between 2007 and 2021, while the incidence of non-obesity-related cancers, such as lung and bladder cancers, remained stable. In addition, the researchers found that obesity-related cancer incidence rose more quickly as the age group got younger,” an abstract of the study report reveals.
“For people aged 60 to 65, obesity-related cancer rates increased by less than 1.6 percent per year. Meanwhile, the rates increased by more than 15 percent annually among those aged 25 to 29. Moreover, people born between 1997 and 2001 were 25 times more likely to be diagnosed with obesity-related cancers compared to those born between 1962 and 1966.”
The takeaway
“If we don’t drastically change the obesity epidemic, the rates of cancer associated with obesity will inevitably continue to rise,” Yang warns. “It will place a large burden on China’s economy and healthcare system.”
My take
Yang’s findings may well reflect what’s going on in the rest of the world. It’s been confirmed over and over again that humanity as a whole is in the midst of an obesity crisis. So, it follows that the Chinese findings would logically extend to the entire global population. Other countries just haven’t done the analysis on their own figures, yet.
And the last thing we need, heading into the most serious health care crisis we’ve faced in recorded history, is to have the system’s already stressed resources burdened further by a spike in a hugely expensive, totally preventable disease.
We all have a responsibility to fight obesity any way we can. Even in the smallest ways. If enough of us take affirmative action against obesity, our collective efforts can add up to a big thing.
~ Maggie J.