Obesity Nears Smoking As Cancer-Causer
"Eye-Opener" Major Report Analyzed 7,000 Clinical Trials And Took 5 Years To Complete
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Study Links Obesity, Cancer
Dr. Jon LaPook reports on a new study that overwhelmingly supports the link between cancer and obesity.
-
Video
Cancer Causes Identified
The world's medical community has published a much-anticipated report on the leading causes of cancer, placing obesity and poor nutrition at the top of its list. Dr. Emily Senay reports.
-
-
Photo
(AP / CBS)
-
Photo
Report co-author Dr. W. Philip James, a report co-author (CBS/EARLY SHOW)
-
-
Interactive
Cancer
Learn about the most common cancers, who gets them and how they are treated.
The report, "Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective" is an "eye-opener," Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay said as it was released Wednesday.
It shows that the connections between lifestyle choices and cancer risk are clearer than ever, she said.
The 500-page document, which took five years to compile, analyzed more than 7,000 clinical trials and was put together by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund, and includes contributions from scientists at Harvard, the National Cancer Institute, and many other institutions worldwide.
Authors call the report "the most comprehensive ever published on the evidence linking cancer risk to diet, physical activity and weight."
"It's all about prevention," Senay said. " ... It's an eye-opener report" that shows the evidence "is clearer than ever. Even small amounts of excess body fat, especially around the middle, can make cancer more likely."
Report co-author and London-based researcher Dr. W. Philip James told CBS News, "This is the first report that clearly shows that the fatter we are, the greater the risk of cancer. It's remarkable how clear that link is."
James says that, as obesity rates soar, the list of cancers associated with those extra pounds is growing: "Breast cancer, particularly post-menopausal breast cancer, cancer of the large bowel, and cancer of the pancreas, those are the three big ones."
Another co-author, Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard, told CBS News obesity is now "approaching smoking as a cancer risk," and Senay says it could surpass smoking one day.
The report also cites red meat as a big cancer risk raiser. The researchers say 18 ounces - barely more than a pound - is all the red meat a person should eat in a week.
"It is quite clear," James says, "that, if you're in a country where a lot of red meat is eaten, that's where you find people getting more large bowel cancer."
Other things to limit include alcohol, salt and sugary drinks.
Senay points out that, in addition to the list of things not to do, there are things we should do, such as eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and get plenty of exercise - at least a half-hour a day.
Also, the report notes solid evidence that breast feeding does more than nourish a baby.
"It's very striking," James says, "that, if mothers breastfeed, they really do reduce their risk of breast cancer. We've known for years that the baby profits. But now, there's no doubt at all that it's not just the babe, but the mother, as well.
Death rates from cancer have been dropping in recent years, Senay notes, and suggestions in the report could point the way toward even fewer cases of cancer, and fewer deaths.
"These are all recommendations you've heard before," Senay observes. "All this links back again to obesity as such an important risk factor. What's different about the message now is how much it appears to matter not just for your heart, but also for your risk of developing cancer."
Senay added that the report shows people can go a long way toward offsetting genetics as far as their cancer risk is concerned: "Relatively few" cancer cases are in the genes. "One of the most interesting things in this report is an estimate that only 5 to 10 percent of cancers result directly from genes that we inherit from our parents. There is much we can do to reduce our risk. Most cancers occur when genetic material inside our cells is altered or damaged over time. To the extent that diet, nutrition and physical activity can influence those cellular changes, the report says that making those lifestyle choices can make a positive difference."
The report also cites body growth rates as possible cancer risk factors. For instance, it notes evidence that tallness, and high-birth rates in females, could increase cancer risks.
To see summaries of major sections of the report, click here.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



- 1
- 2
- next
See all 66 CommentsHow many times have I heard a fat person say, "LIfe''s too short to not just eat what you want. I''d rather be fat and happy than thin and deprived."
So be it. The real shame is that this hideous condition burderns the more intelligent, lean, healthy people with untold costs in both taxes and
insurance premiums.
Forget penalizing manufacturers of food products that are unhealthy. These compulsive hogs will devour whatever they want just as smokers do.
Eventually, this new race of obese, smoking human-like entities will die off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X4HAIwJBEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOBP2hmubpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Fhg5ZDlJo
Oh, I''m just crazy....LOL!
Posted by shanev137
Designed? Did you say ''Designed''?
Why you ignorant, homophobic, red-neck, religious right-wing global-warming-denier whacko flat-earther!!
How dare you say "Designed" when referring to human beings!!
LOL!
Don''t worry my fat friends!!
When Hillary''s Brave New Politburo takes over Healthcare, you will be told what and how much to eat, or you will be denied treatment.
All behavior and calorie intake will be monitored and controlled by The Government.
There will be no more fat people.
Posted by glaswolf at 09:52 AM : Oct 31, 2007
Or whatever genetic predisposition that causes obesity to be more likely could also more easily trigger cancer in the same person. It''s not clear, but i think all this study does is make statistical correlations, and not any hard links between food and cancer.
And for you morons that have and will compare smoking to obesity in any fashion, you''re, well, morons.
How many of these people participating in the study also smoke? The article never says.
How is obesity defined? Usually the Body Mass Index is used and 30 and higher is generally considered obese. I used to play football and still participate in sports (old fool that I am); and many of these people who might otherwise be considered overweight or even obese actually have less body fat content than many of us who are considered lean.
How is eating red meat connected with obesity? In addition, "red" meat animals such as wild game (deer, elk, etc) are a whole lot different from factory farmed cows and whatnot. The steak or lamb you get in the stores today are so overloaded with antibiotics, steroids and God knows what other garbage that I am surprised the animals stay dead after they''re slaughtered. I limit my meat intake largely because I don''t trust this store bought cr*p.
Diet is also important. It is possible to get fat on a vegan diet. I know a few who are. So, then, it is the excess lardage or the diet that''s the major cancer culprit? And if it is the diet, what does that say to those who diets are called into question, who weigh within normal limits and get little additional exercise?
There are other questions but I''m running out of room..
Some of those questions were answered in the article.
Tho'' it doesn''t say explicitly, i''m assuming conclusions are based on correlation alone. Another assumption is that the smokers in the study were likely tallied seperately, along with diet variations.
Fatty food is bad..... it is banned too
Fat people + Cancer .... NOW LETS BAN ALL THE FAT PEOPLE ..... HUMMM HOW?.... WELL SHIP THEM TO ENEMY COUNTRY... OR KILL THEM ... BUSH WILL LIKE TO KILL THEM WITH HELP OF CHENNY GUN!
Posted by horse3farm at 12:22 PM : Oct 31, 2007
What''s the rush? limbaugh says "Come again?"...
Posted by rf36 at 12:45 PM : Oct 31, 2007
Not at all, i actually THINK the correlations that are made by this study are valid. But that''s only my opinion, as the actual cause-and-effect don''t appear pinned down yet.
As to the rest of your post, i don''t quite get your point. But you should scroll down to where i also said that there is no comparison between smoking and obesity. The former is a pointless addiction that can''t be isolated to just the primaries, the latter is much much more complex.
F A T people are F A T!! FAT! FAT!! FAT!!!
They eat TOOOOO much, DO NOTHING.
THEY DONT WANT TO DO EXCERSIZE TO MAKE THEM MEANER BECAUSE THEY ARE SO LAZY. I HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR LAZY FAT PEOPLE. THEY LIKE TO BE BURDON ON OUR SOCIETY AND THEY ARE NOT ASHAMED OF BEIGN VERY VERY FAT AND DEPENDING ON OTHERS..... FAT FAT FAT!!
Ooops. Did anyone besides me note a contradiction here? According to scientists and polls, obesity is on the increase in the US with over 3 in 4 adults being overweight and 1 in 4 morbidly obese. IN addition, 2 out of 4 children under age 12 have a weight problem and Hbp, heart disease and type II diabetes in children is increasing at an alarming rate.
If obesity is really definitively linked to cancer and more Americans are getting fat--why wouldn''t cancer rates be going up instead of down? THAT is a major discrepancy that does not appear to have been addressed.
What? Are you saying Africans laid their seed to waste when they produced all other races?
Posted by riggie3 at 12:36 PM : Oct 31, 2007
There are less than 3 million people of any type on welfare in this country--that leaves over 297 million not accounted for--and since almost 50% of Americans are overweight and many of them work--that leaves at least 120 million people not fitting into your grand idea.
Posted by USAyesterday at 01:28 PM : Oct 31, 2007
for those of us who have had the pleasure of losing weight through diets--we learn real fast that gaining weight is more than simply overeating. Remember how you were told that a person could go without food for about 3 weeks and water for about 1? throw that out. New data shows that when people diet--their body accomodates and learns to live on and NOT lose weight on less and to become more efficient with food. There have been cases of controlled studies where fat people were put on diets with less than 800 calories and still could not lose weight. Diets where people exercised and did not lose weight. Scientists are learning that the eating, weight gain and losing dynamic is far more complex than we thought and consequently the approached we take to this are changing. One thing is clear--sugar is badd for everyone, as are diets high in genetically altered or chemically enhanced foods and many starches are bad also--what is also true--we are getting fatter and fatter--but cancer is going down--how can that be--unless there is a link science did not address? One thing about results--the must fit the questions posed. Don''t ask the right questions or with the right parameters--then you won''t get the right answers.
'' ... i''m sorry, but i''m busy, i don''t have time for this, i''m just in the middle of investing trillions of dollars into baby raping warfare to insure i''ve got the option to teach you kids that you''re too young to make sexual decisions for yourselves ... ''
'' ... shut up with your i''m tired i''m hungry i''m lonely i''m bored i''m scared i''m lusty i''m i''m i''m, life is about sitting down and shutting up and working hard to give back to the community that gives so much to you, it''s not about pampering a bunch of whining selfish brats, now behave yourselves or else! i will have order ... ''
'' ...
you''re a girl
don''t go, you know what will happen to you
you know what can happen to you while we''re out here
y''all brought the army into this
if you didn''t do it, why are you so scared
you''re threatening to read me my rights
you''re threatening to give me a fair trial
... ''
'' ... most folk most time dance three hours each night of hike naked dance dressed get well feed world porn songs and twenty minutes each night of hike naked dance dressed get sick tax world porn songs rallied round the hundreds millions and billions sick beds swimming drifting the tens millions and hundreds millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail groups ... ''
'' ... 33 sick beds a night at 33 villages for 33 dollars ... ''
who would LOVE to have an obesity "problem".
Ours, is truly a great nation, if having too much to eat
is a "problem
.
Now what do I do - I''m thinking about returning to my smoking habit since I still miss cigarettes.
Now what do I do - I''''m thinking about returning to my smoking habit since I still miss cigarettes."
Posted by apm2626
Usually, in an enviroment where it pays to come up with "news" and "studies" you might be advised to think about motives carefully before concluding that the writers, researchers, and, -yes NEWS PROMOTERS have in putting this "statistical data" out.
YOU KNOW you did enough smoking, and I sure can understand the craving.
Usually before holidays in the U.S. there is a curious pattern of making all this stuff appear in flux (by searching for this sort of..."information" and then displaying it). That is a pattern in its own right--just like the proposed pattern in the data in this story.
You will notice that nowhere does it say that the authors will bet their own livelyhood and health if they turn out to be somewhat wrong in their stressing of key points.
It''s not heredity, it''s not a disease, it''s not a slow metabolism, it''s laziness coupled with gluttony, bad food choices and a general lack of self-control.
Over-indulgence will give you cancer, diabetes, a heart attack, or at the very least, worn out knees from supporting all that lard you haul aound.
I agree that it''s rather ironic that someone who is already carrying around a year''s worth of stored calories is purchasing more....
stalinist variety. i mean start digging your
own graves early in life. stalinists like
it that way. then there''s fewer people to control
and dictate too. cement truck drivers unions love
putting people into ''early graves''. its a ''red'' trick
like president bush said. boston red sox. that''s
communism to have reds win. cardinals won last
year, they''re red too. thy rednecks be with thee.
be ye redneck. beats bleu cheese. i like roquefort
actually. decode. minutemen to attend tea party.
'' ... there''s nothing wrong with throwing multi trillion dollar baby raping wars as long as your multi trillion dollar baby raping wars rapes less babys than the enemys multi trillion dollar baby raping war ... ''
'' ... the best way to balance and even negate the effects of multi trillion dollar baby raping warfare is to invest in multi trillion dollars of folk holding hands and weaving bouquets and doing nice things for folk and doing all that for nothing or little more than small arrays of quality shortest term time share business plans ... ''
'' ... i''ve got a edible cow for sale real cheap, so cheap you can buy many more than one, and if you''ll buy that, then first came me and then followed all eternity shortly thereafter ... ''
'' ... if you''re going to bother to tell me how infintely long i''ll live someday and how infinitely fast i''ll travel someday and all thanks to the abuse i put up with from you today, then don''t forget to remind me that i had all that yesterday and have it still today ... ''
'' ... thanks for bringing me to your perfect world of pleasant people yet so dangerous you have to punish me till i''m behaved, i promise someday i''ll share with you my perfect world of pleasant people yet so dangerous i have to punish you till you''re behaved ... ''
'' ... we can look inside our bellys and find us swimming there and too we can look outside our worlds and find they swim inside our own bellys ... ''
'' ... as small as you may feel, the galaxies are but flakes of dust on flakes of dust hovering around your finger nails, flick me off if you like, you''ve done it infinite times before and you''ll do it infinite times again, as have and will i you ... ''
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 66 Comments