Bowel Cancer Significantly Higher In Overweight Teens When They Reach Middle Age

New findings published in the journal Gut look at how being overweight can double a teen's risk of developing bowl cancer by the time he or she has hit middle age.

For some time, researchers have found a connection between adult obesity and inflammation, which can dramatically increase the risk of bowel cancer. However, less is known about how obesity and systemic inflammation might be influential during late adolescence.

For the study, researchers tracked the health of over 240,000 Swedish men who had been conscripted into the military between the ages of 16 and 20 in 1969-76.

Men had a health check that included weight and height and ESR levels, while the men were monitored for bowel cancer up to 2010 via national cancer registry data.

At the time of conscription, nearly 12 percent of the men were underweight, while almost 81% were of normal weight. Some 5 percent were moderately overweight; 1.5 percent were very overweight; and 1 percent were obese.

Throughout the 35-year monitoring period, 885 men developed bowel cancer, while 384 specifically had rectal cancer.

Researchers found that when compared to those with normal weight enlisted (BMI 18.5-25 kg/m2), those who were very overweight, with a BMI ranging between 27.5 and closer to 30, were twice as likely to develop bowel cancer. Furthermore, any participants who were obese as children, with a BMI of 30 or higher, had a 2.38 higher risk of developing bowel cancer.

The study is based on observational information. Thus no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. However, researchers believe that the findings elaborate on a connection between the BMI, inflammation and the role of bowel cancer.

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