More than 650 million people in the world suffer from obesity , according to the most recent figures that are handled in the scientific community. Excess weight, which is already classified as an epidemic in some countries, is linked to multiple health complications, such as cardiovascular disease, and other problems, including loss of cognition.
Obesity, of course, has been known for years as one of the main risk factors for various types of cancer. But a study in the Cancer Journal for Clinicians (supervised by the American Cancer Society) affirms that excess body weight was responsible for 3.9% of all tumors in the world in 2012.
A figure that, according to forecasts, will increase in the coming decades.
Western lifestyle is to blame
In addition, the report focuses on the processes that are favoring this weight gain at a global level in industrialized countries, which are the ones listed below: marketing policies, which promote the consumption of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods ; changing behavior patterns that combine high total energy intake with insufficient physical activity; and human-built environments that amplify these factors.
To be more specific, overweight and obesity have been linked to an increased risk of 13 cancers: breast cancer (postmenopausal), colon and rectum (colorectal), cervix, esophagus (adenocarcinoma), gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovary, pancreas, stomach (cardiac), and thyroid, as well as meningioma and multiple myeloma. More recently, being overweight has been classified as a probable cause of advanced prostate cancer, as well as cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx.
A growing trend
The prevalence of excess body weight has increased worldwide since the 1970s. In 2016, approximately 40% of adults and 18% of children and youth (ages 5 to 19) were overweight , which is equivalent to almost 2 billion adults and 340 million children worldwide.
The report says that the prevalence of excess body weight has increased rapidly in most countries across all population groups. Some of the steepest increases are in low- and middle-income countries, probably as a result of the spread of the “Western way of life,” consisting of energy-rich, nutrient-poor foods coupled with reduced levels of physical activity.
WHO already plans how to remedy it
Halting the rise in obesity is one of the nine 2025 goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) to address the growing global burden of noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, although the projections are not very promising: the pace Today’s growing and existing challenges makes achieving this goal seem unlikely.
All in all, WHO says high-priority strategies that governments, industries and civil societies should adopt include population-led interventions and policies to rectify the production, distribution and marketing of unhealthy food and changes in the built environment. to promote adequate levels of physical activity.
Those interventions include eliminating trans fats by developing legislation to ban their use in the food chain; reduce sugar consumption through effective taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages; implement subsidies to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables; limiting portion size to reduce energy consumption and risk of excess body weight; ensure that urban design incorporates the core elements of residential density, connected street networks including sidewalks, easy access to a variety of destinations, and access to public transportation; and provide convenient and safe access to quality open public spaces and adequate infrastructure to support physical activity, such as walking and cycling.
