Tag Archive for: Obesity

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Childhood Obesity Can Be a Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer in Adulthood

Childhood obesity is a significant global public health concern that has escalated since the late 20th century. In 2022, an estimated 37 million children under the age of 5 were overweight and over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were also overweight, of which 160 million were obese. Significant research has identified the association between obesity and increased cancer risk, including a study that has specifically found a correlation between high early-life body-mass index (BMI) and an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in adulthood.

 Obesity can have detrimental effects on nearly every organ in a child’s body. The CDC reports that approximately 14.7 million children and adolescents in the U.S. were obese during the period 2017-2020.

Risk Factors of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a condition in which a child has a significantly higher weight than what is typically expected for their age and height within a specific age range. Since children are continuously growing, the ranges of height, weight, and BMI vary based on age and sex-specific percentiles rather than the BMI cut-points used in adults. However, severe obesity in children can be classified into two classes:

– Class 2 obesity: BMI range between >120% to <140% of the 95th percentile for BMI >35 kg/m2 to <40 kg/m2, based on age and sex.
– Class 3 obesity: BMI >140% of the 95th percentile or BMI >40 kg/m2, based on age and sex.

Several risk factors may contribute to childhood obesity, including:

 1. Genetic factors: Both common and rare genetic variants that affect gene expression or function can contribute to obesity. Genetic factors are considered responsible for 40% to 70% of an individual’s obesity risk.

2. Diet: Young people are more likely to consume fast food, processed snacks, and foods rich in processed sugar. These foods often contain higher levels of carcinogens and mutagens, as well as being high in calorie count. California has taken measures to ban four additives commonly used in foods, particularly snacks for children, that have a strong correlation with cancer: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and Red dye 3. 

3. Sedentary lifestyle: Play is a crucial aspect of child development, affecting physical, mental, and social development. The prevalence of video games and the virtual world among children and adolescents has led to a decrease in outdoor play. A study found that over 90% of children over 2 years old play video games, with many spending 1.5 to 2 hours per day gaming. This can contribute to health problems, including obesity.

CRC and Obesity 

 A meta-analysis study in the U.S. involving over 4.7 million participants (3.2 million men and 1.5 million women) found that individuals who were obese in their early life had an increased risk of CRC as adults. The study demonstrated a 39% increase in CRC risk for obese males in early-life and a 19% increase for obese females in early-life, compared to controls. For men, an obese BMI in early life was more strongly associated with distal colon and rectal cancer. In women, the association was stronger for rectal cancer. 

Additional studies are needed to fully understand the association between early childhood obesity and CRC risk to prevent cancer in adulthood.

 

Emmanuel Olaniyan is a Colorectal Cancer Prevention Intern with the Colon Cancer Foundation.

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

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Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults: What Are We Learning?

By Deepthi Nishi Velamuri

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a disease that typically affects older adults, but it is becoming increasingly common in young adults. In fact, data indicate that 15% of patients diagnosed with CRC in the U.S. are under the age of 50 years and the mean age at diagnosis is 42.5 years.

There are a number of factors that may contribute to the rising risk of CRC in young adults. These include:

  • Changes in diet and lifestyle: Young adults are more likely to eat a diet high in processed foods and red meat, and to be less physically active than previous generations. These factors can increase the risk of developing CRC. Young adults with CRC are more likely to be obese. This suggests that obesity may be a modifiable risk factor for the disease in young adults.
  • Genetics: Some people have a genetic predisposition to CRC. If you have a family history of the disease, you are at an increased risk.
  • Inflammatory bowel disease: People with inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, are also at an increased risk of CRC.

Prevention, Genetics, and Disease Outcomes

The good news is that CRC is often preventable. If you are at an increased risk, you should talk to your doctor about getting screened for the disease. Screening can help identify polyps, which are growths that can develop into cancer. If polyps are found, they can be removed before they have a chance to turn cancerous.

Young adults diagnosed with CRC are more likely to have advanced-stage disease at the time of diagnosis. This suggests that young adults are less likely to be screened for the disease—often despite showing symptoms such as rectal bleeding, abnormal or changing bowel patterns, fatigue, etc—which can lead to later-stage diagnosis and poorer outcomes.

A number of genetic mutations associated with CRC in young adults have been identified. These mutations can help identify people who are at an increased risk of the disease, and they can also be used to develop new targeted therapies.

Need for Improved Management of Young Adults

While we are still trying to understand the mechanism of CRC development in young adults, it is clear that this is a serious and growing problem. By understanding the risk factors for the disease and getting screened, young adults can protect themselves from CRC.

Here are some tips to reduce your risk:

  • Eat a healthy diet that is low in processed foods and red meat
  • Get regular exercise
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Don’t smoke
  • Limit your alcohol intake
  • Talk to your doctor about getting screened for CRC if you are at an increased risk

 

Deepthi Nishi Velamuri is a Colorectal Cancer Prevention Intern with the Colon Cancer Foundation.

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Diet and Nutrition to Prevent Colon Cancer

You can help significantly decrease your chances of colorectal cancer through proactive action related to your diet.

Maintaining a Healthy Weight Helps Prevent Colon Cancer

One of the best things you can do is to get yourself to a healthy weight and maintain it within a designated range. By maintaining a healthy weight you won’t just be proactively protecting yourself from colon cancer, you’ll also be making an investment in your overall health.

What to Eat to Beat Colon Cancer and Help Prevent it

Some of the best foods to be eating to lower your chances of contracting colon cancer include, chicken, fish, fruits, and whole grains.

Foods that you should avoid eating in excess include red meats and anything that is rich in refined sugars.

The Link Between Obesity and Colon Cancer

A strong link has been identified between obesity and colon cancer. Diet choices have a profound impact on how susceptible you are to contracting colon cancer.

It’s important to remember that making healthy choices with what you eat and how much affects much more than your susceptibility to contracting colon cancer. Your diet affects your overall health. It’s also important to remember that portion size is just as important as the food that you choose to eat. You can eat red meat without increasing your chance of getting colon cancer if you do it in moderation.

Someone who enjoys a steak every couple of weeks or so for dinner with a salad is not going to have a particularly high risk of getting colon cancer. Conversely, someone who eats steak, pork, sausage, and bacon in large quantities every single day or even every other day, will greatly increase their chances of having colon cancer.

Eating red meats in small amounts and in limited frequency is perfectly fine. No one needs to be panicking about eating a steak every now and again. No matter what you eat, your portion size is vital. Larger portion sizes are unhealthy and will put weight on fast.

You shouldn’t commit to a healthy diet just to decrease your chances of contracting colon cancer, you should want to eat healthy to feel better about yourself and increase your overall health. If you exercise and maintain a healthy diet, you won’t just be limiting your chances of getting colon cancer. You will feel better, and eliminate your susceptibility to countless other health problems.

How Does a Poor Diet Increase Your Chances of Contracting Colon Cancer?

Some of you might be wondering exactly how a poor diet increases your chances of contracting colon cancer. Obviously foods that are rich in fats aren’t good for you, but why does such delicious food have to make you more susceptible to such a horrible disease?

Studies have shown that when mice were fed a diet consisting of foods that were high in fats, they exhibited aggressive cell growth of stem-like cells that encourage mutation. This aggressive cell growth is typically coupled with the development of cancerous tumors along the intestine.

The unfortunate mice who were tested offer us invaluable insights into the factors that affect one’s chances of developing colon cancer. Their sacrifice, while trivial compared to the totality of scientific inquiry, is significant and it can save lives, human lives.

Further Recommendations

With so much information out there on the internet, it can be difficult to distinguish genuinely useful information from inaccurate drivel. For example, fiber supplements and antioxidant vitamins do not reduce one’s chances of having colon cancer, nor does it affect polyps.

Calcium, on the other hand, does have an effect on polyps and helps reduce polyp recurrence. Another thing that can help you is regular exercise. If you’re going to make the effort to maintain a healthy diet, you should double down and add exercise to the mix.

By exercising, eating healthy, and consuming the recommended amount of calcium, you can reduce your chances of contracting colon cancer significantly. Although these lifestyle changes can give you much better odds, it’s still imperative that you schedule regular screenings. If you aren’t being screened for colon cancer, you can still contract if and all of your efforts will be for naught, especially if it isn’t detected early on, hence the importance of regular screenings.

 

 

 

 

 

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