Confidence in one’s large body won’t neutralize obesity’s relation to over a dozen cancers.
Obesity-related cancer deaths have tripled in the U.S., says research, but the risk factor of obesity for these cancers has been known for a very long time.
The research analyzed more than 33,000 deaths attributed to cancers linked to obesity, showing marked increases across several groups — particularly women, older adults, Native Americans and blacks.
“Obesity remains a major contributor to cancer-related deaths,” says Lead author Dr. Faizan Ahmed of Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, in the paper.
Currently, over 40% of U.S. adults are classified as being obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Obesity means having a body weight that’s at least 20% over the ideal for that individual’s gender and age.
13 Kinds of Cancer Can Be Driven by Being Fat
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The CDC has identified 13 types of cancer associated with obesity.
These include cancers of the breast (postmenopause), colon, rectum, uterus, gallbladder, kidney, liver, pancreas, thyroid, esophagus (adenocarcinoma), upper stomach, ovary, meningioma (a brain tumor) and multiple myeloma.
Together, they represent about 40% of all cancer cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year.
Dr. Ahmed’s analysis of CDC mortality data from 1999 to 2020 revealed that age-adjusted death rates from obesity related cancers rose from 3.73 to 13.52 per million people.
These frightening findings should be even more motivation than ever to make the lifestyle changes that lead to permanent fat loss.
It’s been said, over and over on TikTok and Instagram, that “diets don’t work.”
Well, what DOES? Tossing in the towel and giving up on losing weight and hence, remaining at an obesity-related higher risk for these cancers?
Cancer Cells Aren’t Fatphobic
Nobody says that fat people need to get skinny.
They just need to exit their bodies from the clinical definition of obesity.
This can start with a commitment to rigorous strength training and aerobic workouts.
Many very overweight people, particularly women, report that stepping into a gym or health club would be “intimidating” and/or it would bring on a lot of self-consciousness or worse, feelings of shame or humiliation.
But look at it this way, if that resonates with you: Which setting would you rather be in – that of being in a non-air conditioned gym sweating and noticing that many other members have “ideal” bodies?
OR – sitting in a nice, comfy reclining chair at the air conditioned cancer center while hooked up to the chemo drip all day and wondering when your hair will begin falling out?
The study’s findings were presented at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, CA.
The Power of Lifting Weights for Losing Fat All Over
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness, where she was also a group fitness instructor, she trained clients of all ages and abilities for fat loss and maintaining it, muscle and strength building, fitness, and improved cardiovascular and overall health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/Lightspring
