Younger generations are more likely to develop obesity than ever before.
In 2009, about 33% of adults ages 20 to 44 had obesity.
By 2020, that number shot up to 41%.
Illustration by Mira Norian for Verywell Health
Scientists have long known that obesity raises the risk of developing and dying of cancer in older adults.
seems as if cancer incidence is rising for young adults and its primarily driven by diagnoses of obesity-related cancers.
Of the 18 cancers not linked to obesity, only two became more common in young adults.
The connection between obesity and early-onset cancer crises is multi-faceted.
The biological mechanisms are complexfat tissueitself can encourage cancer to develop and grow by spurring inflammation and cancer-promoting hormones.
How Does Excess Fat Tissue Contribute to Cancer Growth?
Fat tissue isnt a single idle organ that only stores energy.
Obesity is commonly defined as the accumulation of too much fat.
With excess fat tissue comes an excess of a particular group of proteins calledadipokines.
Adipokines incite inflammation in the fat tissue and sometimes throughout the body.
That inflammation can cause cells to mutate and grow quickly, sometimes causing cancer to develop or grow faster.
Obesity-induced inflammation also leads the body to produce too muchinsulin.
This provides more opportunity for mutations that could lead to cancer.
Fat tissue can also produce excess amounts of the hormone estrogen, especially in women.
High levels of estrogen are linked to breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers.
Not all cancer behaves the same.
How Does Obesity Complicate Cancer Screening?
In one review paper, some physicians reported lacking the education and tools to effectively perform certain cancer screenings.
Obesity can complicate blood tests, too.
Those cases may progress to be especially aggressive.
How Much Does Weight Management Matter in Reducing Cancer Risk?
The causes of cancer are always multifactorial.
Increasing obesity may explain just a fraction of the increase in early-onset cancers, Sung said.
Diet and exercise are often wielded as tools for weight management.
But lifestyle choices may independently influence their cancer risk.
For instance, certainultra-processed foodsare carcinogenic.
Even body mass indexthe tool that providers use to diagnose obesitymay be flawed.
Studying the way that obesity influences cancer risk in young people is tricky.
There are several outstanding questions.
I dont want to say weight loss is not beneficialI absolutely think it is.
We just dont have the clear evidence.
Were trying to build that story, Freedland said.
There are a lot of questions to answer.
Getting enough sleep, avoiding cigarettes and alcohol, and reducing stress can also reduce your cancer risk.
Organizations like theObesity Action Coalitionand theObesity Medicine Associationcan help you connect with obesity-aware providers or obesity medicine experts.
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