Asian study confirms obesity link to cancer

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asians who are overweight or obese are more likely to die from cancer compared with people of normal weight, a large study in Asia has found.

Obesity is known to be a risk factor for certain cancers in the West, but until now it had not been clear if it poses the same risks to Asians.

Researchers monitored 401,215 people in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand for 4 years.

Compared to people of normal weight, participants who were obese were 21% more likely to die from cancer while those who were overweight had a 6% higher risk, the study found.

Obese participants were particularly vulnerable to cancers of the colon, rectum, breast, ovary, cervix, prostate, and leukemia, the researchers found.

"Overweight and obese individuals in populations across the Asia-Pacific region have a significantly increased risk of mortality from cancer," the researchers write in a paper published online in The Lancet Oncology on June 30.

"New strategies are urgently needed to tackle the obesity epidemic in Asia to prevent further increases in the cancer burden in this region," says the group, which was led by Dr. Christine Parr at the University of Oslo in Norway.

There has been a rapid increase in obesity in many Asian countries in the last few decades, fueled by growing affluence and people moving from the countryside to cities, where they have become sedentary and are eating fattier foods.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(10)70141-8/fulltext

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