Obese teenagers could be more than twice as likely to develop bowel cancer later in life, according to the latest study.
A research team from the United States examined the medical records of 240,000 men who underwent a compulsory conscription assessment for the Swedish military as teenagers.
According to the records, most of the men, all born between 1952 and 1956, were of normal weight. Just 1.5 per cent were in the upper overweight group (with a body mass index (BMI) of 27.5 to 30) and one per cent were obese. A person is considered obese if they have a BMI of 30 or greater.
When the researchers examined the men's health 35 years later, it was clear that those in the upper overweight group had a 2.08-fold higher risk of bowel cancer than their peers, while the obese men were 2.38 times more likely to suffer from the disease.
The latest available Irish figures suggest that one in five teenagers is overweight or obese.
