Certain cancers

You might be surprised to know that obesity and being overweight are associated with an increased risk of developing 13 different types of cancer. These cancers make up 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States each year.

The link between fat and cancer is less obvious than it is with other diseases like heart disease and stroke because cancer is a multi-disease. However, obesity can increase your risk for some cancers, such as cancer of the uterus, cervix, endometrium, and ovaries, as well as breast, colon, gallbladder, pancreatic, kidney, and prostate cancer. According to a population-based study, being overweight or obese in the United States was thought to be linked to around 28,000 new cases of cancer in men and 72,000 in women in 2012.