Obesity and cancer​

1. Obesity is becoming more fatal than smoking as a cause of cancer. Obesity is associated with about 14 percent of cancer mortality in men and 20 percent in women, compared with 30 percent each for smoking. In some years obesity will be the number 1 cancer killer.

2. Dr. Douglas R. Lowy of the National Cancer Institute says that cancer prevention begins at home. A study is producing information associating obesity with a variety of cancers, including breast, colorectal, liver and pancreas. Alcohol is also associated with certain cancers.

3. In the 1980s, researchers focused on the quantity of fat that people ate as a probable cause of cancer, but studies did not accept that. Later they talked about diets high in fruits and vegetables as a way to reduce cancer, but again, they did not find evidence in studies. Now attention is in obesity, and more and more doctors indicate that as a cancer cause.

4. Studies indicated the existence of a great benefit from a fruit and vegetable diet in some cancers, including mouth, esophagus, lung and stomach. They estimated that 30 to 35 percent of cancers are caused by nutritional factors, especially obesity.

Randolph E. Schimid

Glossary
Breast: mama
Liver: fígado
Mouth: boca
Lung: pulmão