Our findings about being overweight and cancer are based an a comprehensive study called Health 2020.
Health 2020 is a cohort study funded by The Cancer Council Victoria. A cohort study is one in which scientists measure certain things among an identified group of people and follow them over time to gather and analyse the results.
This study was established in the early 1990s by Professor Graham Giles of the Cancer Council's Epidemiology Centre to determine why migrants from Southern European backgrounds had 30% less chance of cancer or heart disease, had lower morbidity levels than people born in Australia, and lived on average 4 or 5 years longer.
The aim of the study, which is still active, is to establish the extent to which lifestyle factors including nutrition and exercise affect a person's risk of certain types of cancer.
This study formed the basis of a thesis completed by PhD student Robert MacInnis. His thesis identified the links between waist measurement and cancer risk.
From 1990 to 1994, 41,528 people aged between 40 and 69 were recruited as part of Health 2020. Trained interviewers directly measured height, weight, body mass index, bioimpedance (muscle versus fat analysis) and waist and hip measurements of the participants.
Participants were then monitored over the years for cancers including cancers of the:
Some other cancers were also monitored including non-Hodgkins lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukaemia.
After almost 20 years of monitoring the participants and analysing the findings, a link between waist measurement and some cancers was discovered.
It was found that waist measurement was a strong indicator for risk of:
It was also a strong indicator of risk of myeloid leukaemia.
Discover how the risk of cancer varies with different waistlines
*Aggressive prostate cancer is determined by the Gleason score (for more about Gleason score visit www.prostate-cancer.com) or whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. Aggressive cancers are more likely to be fatal. More information is available at the Urological Society of New Zealand and Australia website at www.urosoc.org.au.
Other research that supports the findings of Health 2020 can be found in the IARC Handbook of Cancer Prevention, Volume 6: Weight Control and Physical Activity.
Updated June 2007
A hugely popular relay-style event that raises money for cancer research.
