Obesity leads to more cases of cancer than smoking

People with obesity are at an increased risk of suffering from cancer rather than regular smokers, according to a British charity involved in research work related to cancer.

Scientists have so far identified that obesity causes 13 types of cancer, it said. Excess weight causes around 1,900 more cases of bowel cancer than smoking in the UK each year, the charity said in a statement.

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The same worrying pattern is true of cancer in the kidneys (1,400 more cases caused by excess weight than by smoking each year in the UK), ovaries (460), and liver (180), it added. “As smoking rates fall and obesity rates rise, we can clearly see the impact on a national health crisis when the government puts policies in place – and when it puts its head in the sand,” said Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive.

“Our children could be a smoke-free generation, but we’ve hit a devastating record high for childhood obesity, and now we need urgent government intervention to end the epidemic. They still have a chance to save lives,” Mitchell said.

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