Waist size beats BMI in predicting cancer risk, study finds
Men’s waist size predicts cancer risk better than BMI, a new Lund University study found. Researchers analyzed health records of 3,39,190 people from 1981 to 2019. Over 14 years, 18,185 participants developed obesity-related cancers like bowel, liver, pancreas, and breast cancer.
The study revealed that an extra 4 inches (11 cm) on the waist increased men’s cancer risk by 25%. In comparison, a BMI increase of 3.7 points raised the risk by 19%. For women, waist size and BMI showed similar cancer risk patterns, making waist size a stronger indicator only in men.
Abdominal fat, which gathers around vital organs, poses a higher cancer risk. While BMI measures overall body mass, it fails to reveal fat location. This makes waist size a more accurate predictor in men, as they store more fat in the abdomen compared to women.
The researchers also found that a 12 cm increase in waist size and a 4.3 rise in BMI increased cancer risk by 13%. They highlighted that people with the same BMI but different fat distribution face varying cancer risks.
Abdominal fat raises cancer risk due to its proximity to vital organs. For men, fat tends to concentrate in the stomach area, making waist measurements a clearer indicator of cancer risk than BMI.
