Study
suggests child obesity may play role in breast cancer
By
Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Women
who were overweight at 8 years old or younger may be at increased
risk of dying from breast cancer, a new study suggests.
This
adds to the growing concern over the long-term health consequences
of childhood obesity. About 20% to 30% of U.S. kids are overweight
or at risk of becoming so.
Researchers at Tufts University in Boston analyzed height
and weight data for 1,877 schoolchildren collected from 1922
to 1935 in three midsize cities north of Boston. The researchers
were able to determine the cause of death for 858 of the females
in the study and found that 29 of them died of breast cancer.
The scientists couldn't determine how many women developed
breast cancer and survived or died from other causes. They
found that the women who were overweight when they were 8
or younger had a two times greater risk of dying of breast
cancer than those who weren't overweight as children.
On average, women have a 3% risk of dying from breast cancer
over their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute.
So if this latest study is confirmed by other research, it
might mean that the risk for women who were overweight as
children could be 6%, says Aviva Must, an associate professor
of family medicine and community health at Tufts University
School of Medicine in Boston.
The explanation for the increased risk might have to do with
starting to menstruate at an early age. Excess weight in childhood
often leads to earlier maturation, she says.
This doesn't mean that if you were overweight as a child that
you are going to develop breast cancer, Must says. But it
does underscore that childhood obesity should be taken seriously.
She's presenting her research today in Fort Lauderdale at
the annual meeting of the North American Association for the
Study of Obesity.
Women
who were overweight at 8 years old or younger may be at increased
risk of dying from breast cancer, a new study suggests.
