Weight at age 18 linked to cancer in men decades later

16 June 2011

Public health researchers have identified a link between men being overweight or obese at age 18 and death from cancer in later life. The study shows the link is apparent even if they reduce their weight during middle age.

In a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health, researchers analysed the medical records of around 20 000 male graduates who attended Harvard between 1916 and 1950. The results of their study are published in the journal 'Annals of Oncology'.

The researchers found that the men in the study who had the highest body mass indexes (BMIs) at age 18 were 35 per cent more likely to die from cancer than those with lower BMIs. The associations between weight and cancer were particularly strong for lung, skin, oesophageal and urogenital (kidney, bladder, prostate and testicular) cancers.

For example, men whose BMI had been greater than the average (21.7) at age 18 had more than a 50 per cent greater risk of dying from lung cancer than those with the lowest BMIs, even after accounting for whether or not they smoked. Importantly, an individual's changes in BMI between early adulthood and middle age did not influence these effects.

Dr Linsay Gray, from the Medical Research Council and Chief Scientist Office Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Scotland, said: "This is the first time the impact of obesity in early adulthood on later risk of cancer has been so closely examined. It is very interesting that higher BMI at age 18 actually leads to a greater risk for cancer than higher BMI in middle age.

"The message here is really clear, keeping your weight healthy as a young adult can significantly reduce your chance of developing cancer. These findings point worryingly to a greater future burden of cancer."

Professor David Batty, Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellow at UCL and lead scientist on the project, said: "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. Because such studies are so rare, our results make an important contribution to the field."

Image credit: 18th birthday by axorange on Flickr.

Reference

Gray L et al. Association of body mass index in early adulthood and middle-age with site-specific cancer mortality: over 80 years of follow-up in the Harvard Alumni Health Study. Annals of Oncology [epub ahead of print]