A New Study Found That Men Who Were Overweight As Children Are Still At Risk For Obesity-Related Cancers Even If They Shed The Weight As Young Adults
According to the CDC, 14.4 million children are affected by obesity. The enormous amount of sugar-filled, high-calorie snacks marketed toward children has undoubtedly played a role in this health epidemic.
And while some may say that “kids will grow out of it,” a new study conducted by the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has shown that shedding the weight may not leave behind the obesity-related health risks.
In fact, men who had higher body mass indexes (BMI) as children were found to be at higher risk for obesity-related cancer in adulthood, regardless of if they reached a “normal” weight in young adulthood.
The association between high BMI and obesity-related cancers had been studied before. But, this study went further in analyzing childhood and BMI effects on health later in life.
The research study used data from the BMI Epidemiology Study Gothenburg, which included over thirty-six thousand men born from 1945 to 1961.
First, their BMIs were assessed at eight years old. Then, cancer diagnoses were analyzed at age twenty and age sixty.
This long time span was crucial to the study’s accuracy since obesity-related cancers tend to occur after reaching the upper middle ages.
Jimmy Celind, the study’s lead author, explained how even after losing weight, the health risks still remained.
“Alarmingly, a near forty percent excess relative risk remained even for the group of boys who were overweight at age eight but had a normal weight at age twenty,” Celind said.
georgerudy – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
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“This study is the first to show that [being] overweight in childhood followed by normal weight in young adulthood results in a persistently increased risk of adult obesity-related cancer,” Celind concluded.
In turn, the researchers are adamant that preventative actions must be prioritized early in childhood. This might mean limiting snacks and emphasizing physical activity at the family level. It may also mean more governmental intervention in the food industry.
“If decision makers responsible for public health at country or even global levels are serious about every child’s right to a healthy start in life, they need to step up the actions taken in early years,” Celind advocated.
To read the study’s complete findings, visit the link here.
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