Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

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Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Tas » 16th Jun, '11, 16:47

I know discussions around use of BMI as a tool for measuring anything anything is unpopular around here. But will put this up anyway, it is quite an interesting study, and they are likely using this measure as it is the best formula available with the historical data provided. Noting also that it's a contribution to the knowledge, not a definitive study and they qualify about additional contributing factors.


http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbei ... 1g4wn.html

Lean at 18 the key to cancer survival June 16, 2011 - 4:33PM

Men who are overweight at the age of 18 are more likely to develop cancer, a study suggests.

It's not smoking or exercise that influences your cancer risk - a new study suggests the answer to a long life lies in your skinny genes.

According to a study by Harvard alumni, men with lean physiques at age 18 had a lower chance of dying from cancer later in life than those who were obese at the same age.

Men with the lowest body mass index at age 18 were 35 per cent less likely to die from cancer than those with the highest BMIs, the British and American researchers found.

The findings, published today in the Annals of Oncology, also showed that smoking and physical activity as a young adult did not affect cancer death rates.

The study, one of the largest to look at the effect of weight in young adulthood on risk of cancer death later in life, also found obesity at 18 portended a greater risk for cancer than obesity at middle age.

Early adulthood obesity was associated with dying from cancers of the lung, skin, esophagus and kidneys, the study showed.

''Keeping your weight healthy as a young adult reduces your chances of developing cancer later in life,'' said Linsay Gray, a study author and researcher at the Medical Research Council and the Chief Scientist Office's Social and Public Health Sciences in Glasgow.

Although the study wasn't designed to show how obesity triggers cancer, Gray theorised that hormones created in the body by being overweight or obese may play a role.

The disease might also develop because heavier people have more cells in the body that could potentially become cancerous, she said.

About 1.5 billion adults worldwide aged 20 and older are overweight and, of those, more than 200 million men and 300 million women are considered obese, according to the World Health Organization.

Harvard alumni study

Researchers from the UK and Harvard University used data from the Harvard Alumni Health Study. They included 19,593 men who had a physical exam at the university between 1914 and 1952 when they were about 18 years old and responded to a follow-up questionnaire in 1962 or 1966.

The researchers used information from the Harvard alumni office and copies of death certificates through the end of 1998 to determine causes of death. Body mass index was computed at the start of the study and in middle age.

Body mass index is a measure of a person's weight in relation to height. A reading of 30 and higher is considered obese, while 25 to 29.9 is overweight. In the study, the leanest were less than 20, while the other lean individuals were 20 to 23.

The researchers found that even when they adjusted the data for smoking and physical activity at college age and weight during middle age, an individual's risk of dying from cancer later in life rose 11 per cent for every 2.6 point increase in BMI, Gray said.

Tracking over decades

''Investigating the influence, if any, of obesity in late adolescence and early adulthood on future cancer risk requires studies that have the capacity to track individuals over many decades until they develop cancer,'' said study author David Batty, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.

''Because such studies are so rare, our results make an important contribution to the field.''

The study also showed that the cancer risk didn't decline if the men lowered their BMI between age 18 and middle age.

''That's not to say there's nothing people can do, said Gray.

''There are lots of things that cause cancer, obesity is just one of them. People can consider the amount of alcohol they consume as well as think about their diet and physical activity. It's never too late to address your risk of developing cancer.''


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbei ... z1PQV7Jcbu
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by BoD » 16th Jun, '11, 16:56

That's good. I was really skinny at 18
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by sluggo » 17th Jun, '11, 06:39

I was pretty lean at 18 since I was on the wrestling team and only weighed about 178 bls. ( I was 6'0'' tall). Only problem is that was 40 years ago.
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by canuck » 17th Jun, '11, 07:00

My dad was skinny at 18, but went three rounds with cancer. List 3/4 of his liver but has been finally given all clear last year.

Skinny gene at 18 = rubbish sorry

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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Burbage » 17th Jun, '11, 07:12

Looking at the 18 year old kids round here would suggest there's going to be a major epidemic in about 40 year's time if this correlation has anything to it.

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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Fat Bob » 17th Jun, '11, 07:55

canuck wrote:My dad was skinny at 18, but went three rounds with cancer. List 3/4 of his liver but has been finally given all clear last year.

Skinny gene at 18 = rubbish sorry
It's stats, canuck, there are always those who do not fit the stats. How many 100+ year old people do you know that smoke?
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Morrolan » 17th Jun, '11, 09:26

i should be safe then; i was 67 kg at 18 and am 1.84m... :lol:

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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Tas » 20th Jun, '11, 08:43

Great photo Sluggo.

My dad was skinny as a rake at 18 and we're on the cancer roller coaster as well. The point of the article is it is a significant correlation. The correlation is significant as a future predictor when there is an acknowledged increase in juvenile obesity (I'd bet my bottom dollar that the actuaries will be adding this into their equations)

It is not the only source and cause and this is qualified. The choice of news article headline is, however, poor. You can't dismiss because it doesn't fit a group of cases. What is not mentioned, and I would have made a note in any review is what impact is a university education in that group, versus a group of similar size that didn't have university education. Another known impact on health is education, which generally leads to broader awareness of health issues - It's one of the things that comes up routinely in discussions about aboriginal health, and the value of educting women who are primary care givers.
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Fat Bob » 20th Jun, '11, 10:36

Educating women? Stepping on thin ice there now, Tas!
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Re: Youth and obesity issue and later health, General interest

Post by Sardonicus » 29th Jun, '11, 01:39

But David, can it core an apple?
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