Weight Issues and Solutions

Watch that Slow Weight Gain

The average adult gains one to two pounds a year beginning around age 30. According to researchers, adult weight gain is a health risk – even for those who are not currently overweight. While losing excess weight is recommended, perhaps we are best advised to prevent weight gain in the first place. If not, a small annual weight gain could easily escalate into 30 to 60 extra pounds over the course of several decades.

Data shows a clear link between weight gain during adulthood and an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. A study involving more than 99,000 postmenopausal women conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that those subjects who did not take menopausal hormone therapy and accrued “typical” gains of roughly one-pound per year were still at increased risk for breast cancer. In fact, women who gained 40 pounds in 40 years – common for U.S. adults – faced a 27 percent increased risk. A gain of 50 pounds over four decades raised breast cancer risk 56 percent.

In the Nurses’ Health Study, one of the largest ongoing studies investigating risk factors for chronic diseases in women, weight gain was also linked with increased breast cancer risk. These findings were echoed yet again in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer Study, where each 11-pound weight gain during adulthood raised a woman’s risk of postmenopausal breast cancer by four percent. These figures translate to a 25 percent increase in risk when taking into account a typical woman’s 1.5-pound gain per year.

The good news? Weight loss appears to mitigate this risk. According to researchers, women in the NIH study who lost weight during adulthood had the same breast cancer risk as those whose weight remained stable. And in the Nurse’s Health Study, women who lost at least 22 pounds and kept it off had lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose weight remained stable throughout adulthood.

A landmark report on the relationship between diet and cancer risk, released by the American Institute for Cancer Research in late 2007, reports that there is convincing evidence that being overweight increases risk for a number of cancers. In addition to postmenopausal breast cancer, the report also links excess body fat to greater risk for cancers of the colon, uterus, kidney, esophagus and pancreas.

In a study published in early 2007, weight gain during the ten-year period prior to a colonoscopy was shown to be as large a risk factor for the development of colon polyps (precursors to most colon cancers) as being overweight. In fact, simply gaining more than four pounds in the five years before the colonoscopy doubled the risk of a polyp, regardless of weight. Those who were overweight at the time of their colonoscopy were one and a half times more likely to have a polyp as those of normal weight. Subjects classified as obese were more than twice as likely to have a polyp.

Yet it’s not all bad news. According to experts, approximately 90 percent of Americans could prevent adult weight gain by changing the balance of calories consumed and calories burned in activity by just 100 calories per day. Theoretically that could be reached by walking an extra 15 to 20 minutes or decreasing portion sizes by just four to five percent.

Several simple strategies can be adopted to reach these goals. For example, pedometers can be used to keep track of steps walked each day, with an objective to add 2000 to 2500 steps a day to your usual amount. To cut calories without feeling hungry, try eliminating just one can of a regular sweetened soft drink or avoid the whipped cream on your specialty flavored coffee drink. Choosing lower fat foods, boosting vegetable and fruit intake, and watching portion size are other proven strategies to cut calories.