Incidence of obesity-related cancers climbs rapidly in Chinese youngsters: study

Many countries have begun taking measures to curb obesity which not only affects the population's health, but also the country's economy. (Photo: Li Hao/GT)

The incidence of obesity-related cancers in China has been increasing by 3.6 percent per year from 2007 to 2021, while the rate among youngsters aged 25 to 29 was more than 15 percent annually, Chinese scientists revealed in a study published Friday in the Med journal of Cell Press.

Without proactive public health measures, the incidence of obesity-related cancers in China is expected to double in the next decade, the study said.

"If we do not fundamentally change the trend of obesity, the incidence of obesity-related cancers will inevitably continue to rise. This will bring a huge burden to the Chinese economy and healthcare system," Yang Jinkui, corresponding author of the paper and an endocrinologist at the Capital Medical University in Beijing, told the Global Times. He suggested medications and labeling calories to deal with China's obesity issue.

Yang's team analyzed more than 651,000 newly diagnosed cancer cases in China between 2007 and 2021, with about 48 percent of them being among the 12 types of obesity-related cancers identified by the World Health Organization.

According to the study, during the period, the incidence of cancers not related to obesity (such as lung and bladder cancer) remained stable.

Colorectal cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, and uterine cancer are the fastest-growing types of obesity-related cancers among young people. Lifestyle factors such as increased consumption of meat and alcohol have contributed to the rising obesity rates in China, according to the study.