If you gain 35 Pounds since high school, your cancer risk can spike by 50 percent

pulse

February 9, 2017 11:24 AM

Gaining weight as an adult can greatly increase your chance of developing cancer, a preliminary study from the University of Manchester suggests.

Obesity.

Here’s why your high school weight matters for your health now

Can’t fit in your high school jeans? You may have a bigger problem than just needing a new pair of pants.

The researchers tracked body mass index (BMI) changes on over 300,000 people in the U.S. from ages 18 to 65. They discovered that men who went from a BMI of 22—considered in the “healthy” or “normal” range—to an overweight BMI of 27 were 50 percent more likely to develop an obesity-related cancer by age 65 than men who stayed in the healthy range of 18.5 to 24.9 throughout their lives.

That means that a 5’10” guy who was 155 in high school is now 190 would be 50 percent more likely to develop cancers linked to weight gain—like colorectal, kidney, or esophageal cancers—than someone whose scale reading hasn’t budged over the years.

Obesity can raise your risk of inflammation throughout your body, which can damage DNA and lead to cancer-causing mutations, says lead researcher Hannah Lennon, Ph.D.

Plus, fat cells produce hormones—called adipokines—that may stimulate cancer cell growth, too, she says.

The longer time you spend overweight or obese, the greater your cancer risk.

“Think of it this way: We know that each cigarette increases your risk of cancer,” Lennon says. “We call that your smoking exposure. Now, we’re looking at how each year of BMI above the normal category increases your cancer risk. That’s your obesity exposure.”

So, much like quitting smoking will lower your tobacco-related cancer risks, chopping down the number of years you spend overweight or obese will also bring your risks down, she believes.

Bringing weight down even 5 percent can be protective, she says, but the best tactic is to aim for that normal BMI range.

“There’s no guarantee,” Lennon says. “But keeping a healthy weight and exercising regularly to reduce your ‘obesity exposure’ can help you stack the odds in your favor.”

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