According to a report by the World Health Organization, obesity results in approximately half a million cases of cancer every year. The report was published by The Lancet Oncology and it shows that having a high body mass index (BMI) is linked to the formation of cancer. As a matter of fact, the report says that people who have a BMI of 30 and higher, led to just less than four percent of cancer cases reported in 2012. It leads to 481,000 cases of cancer or approximately half a million.
They say that obesity can lead to cancers in the cancers of the esophagus, colon, rectum, kidney, gall bladder, pancreas, breast, ovary and endormetrium. According to the director of WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), "The number of cancers linked to obesity and being overweight is expected to rise globally along with economic development."
Also, the study revealed that North America is facing the most number of cancer-weight problems. In 2012, there are 111,000 cases of cancer that are linked to obesity, which leads to the conclusion that one in four global cancer cases related to obesity is found in the United States, Mexico and in Canada. Yet, Europe is also suffering from the rise of cases of obesity-related cancer wherein 6.5 percent of all new cancers which totaled to 65,000 are linked to high BMI.
Obesity-related cancers are now on the rise and it can be a preventable disease with proper diet, exercise and avoidance of junk foods or fast foods. Aside from cancer it can cause other life-threatening conditions.
Obesity is a growing predicament in many countries especially in the United States. There are an estimated 1.4 billion people around the world who are suffering from obesity. Also, millions are on the road towards obesity. It can lead to many other diseases like diabetes, heart problems, kidney problems, increased blood pressure and even stroke.
