Today’s Teens Are Facing Higher Obesity Related Cancer Rates

Obesity related cancer rates are on the rise, and these numbers are affecting teens, not just those in older generations. In fact, these cancers are becoming a serious risk factor for those at younger ages at an increasingly rapid rate. This was the major finding in an analysis the American Cancer Society released earlier this month.

The American Cancer Society published its study in The Lancet Public Health journal. It was an analysis of data relating to 12 cancers connected with obesity. The data was from 1995 through 2014. It also examined data from 18 common cancers that are not known to be connected with a person’s body weight. What they found was a frightening trend among people aged 24 through 49 years old.

Obesity Related Cancer Affecting Increasingly Younger People

According to the study’s co-author and vice president of the American Cancer Society’s Surveillance and Health Services Research Program, Ahmedin Jemal, the risk of obesity related cancer is rising in young adults in half of the cancers of that nature. Moreover, the increases are being seen in progressively younger age groups.

The data shows that over time, the risk of contracting obesity related cancer is rising over time and climbing in ever younger age groups. It suggests that certain cancers that are mainly affected older adults at the moment will be a risk for much younger people in the near future. The growth rate of the risk is dramatic enough that Jemal suggested it has the potential for “halting or reversing the progress achieved in reducing cancer mortality over the past several decades.”

From the Elderly to Young Adults

There were six obesity related cancers that are usually associated with the elderly ad that are showing significant increases among younger adults. These forms were: pancreatic, endometrial, colorectal, gallbladder, kidney, and multiple myeloma, which is a form of bone marrow cancer.

Those cancers are traditionally associated with diagnoses far later in life. Typically speaking, they don’t usually occur until people are in their 60s and 70s. However, the research indicated that the risk factor was climbing backward and was increasingly common in ages 24 to 49 years. Moreover, the highest risk is making its way backward within that age range, so that the youngest are also increasingly affected.

People at all ages are being encouraged to place a greater priority on overcoming obesity in order to reduce related risk factors such as these forms of cancer.