Nov 6, 2009 3:46 pm US/Eastern
Obesity Causes 100,000 Cancer Cases Annually
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Experts say obesity causes more than 100,000 cases of cancer in the US every year and that number will rise as rates of obesity continue to rise.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the US after heart disease.
More than 1.4 million cases will be diagnosed this year.
But experts say many of these cancers can be prevented, if people maintain a healthy weight.
Kate Marcus exercises several times a week to help her stay in shape.
"I work out three or times a week before work. It's tiring but it makes you feel better in the long run, health wise," said Kate.
And experts say maintaining a healthy weight can help protect all of us from developing several types of cancer.
"The most beneficial thing a woman can do to help prevent breast cancer or help it from recurring is to work on keeping their weight under control and exercising," said Hillary Wright, nutritionist at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
In fact, a new report from the
American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that maintaining a healthy weight could prevent 17 percent of breast cancer cases - that's 33,000 people.
It could also prevent half of endometrial cancers, more than a third of esophageal cancers and about a quarter of pancreatic and kidney cancers.
If that weren't enough, staying a healthy weight could also eliminate a fifth of gallbladder cancers and nearly a tenth of colon cancer cases.
And of course, in addition to lowering your cancer risk, maintaining a healthy weight also prevents other diseases such as diabetes and heart disease and it's one of those risk factors you can control, unlike genetics or family history.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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