Study: Fat Causes 90,000 U.S. Cancer Deaths a Year

AP via Foxnews.com ^ | 4/24/03 | AP

[jalisco555]

Losing weight could prevent one of every six cancer deaths in the United States -- more than 90,000 each year, according to a sweeping study that experts say links fat and cancer more convincingly than ever before.

Researchers spent 16 years evaluating 900,000 people who were cancer-free when the study began in 1982. They concluded that excess weight may account for 14 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent of those in women.

[dts32041]

In the words of Warren Zevon, "Life will Kill Ya", and there is no known cure for that.

[TheCrusader]

LOL - Once we conquer the demon of fat and increase our life spans to 120 years, then we can go after tobacco, alcohol, smog, lack of exercise; and before you know it we'll be living to be 1,000 years old and won't need health insurance anymore. Well, maybe not. I forgot about auto accidents, heart disease, viruses like SARS, AIDS, and Hep C., wars, famines, drought, earthquakes, floods, fires and storms. Well, if we can overcome these things too then we can all live to be 1,000. Right? ;o)

[Xthe17th]

West Virginia: Home of the all you can eat $7.99 steak buffet! Sooooeeeee...here pig, pig, pig, pig.

[Leisler]

For the children alert.

[goodnesswins]

"They concluded that excess weight may account for 14 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent of those in women.

OKAY......I have always weighed more than I look like I weigh....because, as a woman, I have more muscle from constant activity.....soooooo....do I have excess weight...? This is more about inactivity and calorie consumption than anything.....I'm pissed because our part of the med insurance will double next year.....and my husband and I exercise and eat pretty well.....where's the benefit for doing that? Nowhere.....people who USE the system benefit, those that don't just pay. I want some type of catastrophic insurance offered by companies to their employees, or at least some kind of reward to those who TRY TO be healthy. (NO....I did NOT say the gov't should reward....I said the COMPANY! Keep the government OUT of HEALTHCARE!) /RANT.....now I'm going for my power walk!

[Great Dane]

Nah, in a couple of days they will say, it wasn't fat after all, it was first, second, third and fourth hand smoke.

[hopespringseternal]

The BMI doesn't take into account the three body types: ectomorph/endomorph/mesomorph.

BMI is stupid from the word go. You can't simply correlate height and weight and expect it to work for everyone, and that is exactly what they do. BMI tells you nothing about body fat percentage, and that is exactly what it is used to report!

I have seen people (including myself) that BMI calls obese whose extra weight is muscle mass, not fat mass. A lot of people don't realize that exercising can actually make you gain weight by building muscle. They look at the scale and BMI and assume they are doing terrible when they aren't.

[buffyt]

I am 52 and ALL men in this town my age have BIG bellies if they don't work out at the gym (and some of them have big bellies too). Not too many of the women around here are that fat. Granted, the fat women tend to be obese, but more men here are FAT than women. Which reminds me I haven't been to the gym yet today. I do that at least six hours a week. Small town. Only place to socialize besides WalMart and eating out.

[buffyt]

Donuts are just fat thighs in the larval stage.... ha ha ha

[buffyt]

You are right. One of the trainers at our gym has really muscular arms and legs. Her body fat is LOW LOW LOW. But her doctor tells her she weighs too much. IT IS MUSCLE. And she looks great, not manly, she is very fit and feminine. BMI would make it look like she is fat. And she carried no fat. BTW she is so active and cheerful and helpful and happy and healthy. I want to try to be 25% like her, no way I can be 100% like her!

[citizen]

Somebody sue Burger King....

[strider44]

Define fat.

"The definition has changed with the introduction of the BMI. According to it, I'm borderline obese (5'9", 205 lbs), despite the fact that I can run a 6 minute mile, touch a 10 foot rim on a basketball goal and play sports 3 times a week (basketball and volleyball). Do the people who made this scale up want everyone to look like Lara Flynn Boyle?"

If you read the fine print about BMI, it doesn't take into account athletic builds. It should be used for the average Joe. By BMI standards I'm considered obese too at 5'10" and 225 pounds. I run and lift all the time - last week did a 5K under 21 minutes and maxed out bench pressing at 330 lbs. While in the Army for 8 years I never once passed their height-weight standards, I always had to have my body fat tested. I've never been above 12%. So, long story short, keep running and lifting and don't worry about the scale and the BMI index.

[truenospinzone]

Same here - I'm 5'11", 228, and considered obese by the BMI. I'm in the best shape of my life - I've added about twenty pounds of muscle in the past six months, I bike ten miles a day, and my running mile's just a wee bit slower than yours - but as far as the BMI,and the insurance companies that use it, are concerned, pounds are pounds.

[who knows what evil?]

Funny how so many of those "hog trough" style restaurants are located in the South (Ryan's, Shoney's, and so forth). I just read an article citing a Purdue University study which indicated that people of faith are MORE LIKELY to be obese than those who are agnostic or atheist. Of the known religious affiliations, the Baptists were the most obese of all. Eastern Tennessee is littered with "hog trough" restaurants; we have tons (no pun intended) of Southern Baptists hereabouts, and cancer rates in this area are the highest in the state. Coincidence? Hmmmm...

[Scothia]

"O great gods of societal engineering, save us from ourselves!" bump

[jnarcus]

A BMI of at least 40???? Ain't that why it's called MORBIDLY OBESE

[snowstorm12]

Interesting study, but since FAT causes obesity why did they rely on BMI to determine their findings? BMI doesn't measure body fat, it will give you a generic weight range. Two people can have the same BMI, but a different percent body fat.

The CDC itself admits that BMI calculations unfairly tell millions of Americans that they are overweight. But the agency says the formula was never meant to tell those people they are "overfat."

Under the same CDC guidelines, Andrew, a 240-pound weightlifter and former Mr. Australia, is obese. Just would need to lose 70 pounds to get in shape.

Under the CDC's guideline, he says, "I'm incredibly unhealthy, and probably should have been dead yesterday, but obviously, I'm not."

Using this scale, Mel Gibson is overweight. He scores a 25. Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants scores a 29: He's overweight. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a 33 — obese.

also if you are 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weigh 159 pounds, your BMI is a marginally satisfactory 24.9. 25 is overweight. However, if you creep up to 160 pounds, you fall into the overweight category with a BMI of 25.1.

Sounds like junk science to me.

[GrandMoM]

not to mention no exercise, sitting in a recliner, watching tv an average of 8 hours per day.....and sitting at the computer on Free Republic for most of the day!!!!!

[Old Professer]

I did my BMI - 18.6; I guess I am a low normal.

[Old Professer]

5'9" @ 205 pounds gives you a 28.5 BMI - almost 4 full points above high normal (24.9)