Obesity at cancer diagnosis linked to lower survival rates in children, experts flag

Children who are obese at the time of being diagnosed with cancer may face elevated mortality risk, according to a recent population-based study. The retrospective study utilized data from the Cancer in Young People in Canada (CYP-C) database, which recorded cases of newly diagnosed cancer in children aged two to 18 years across Canada from 2001 to 2020.

The results were published online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, by Wiley. The findings come on the heels of a study published in Lancet, which revealed that child nutrition goals for 2030 will largely remain unmet as childhood obesity numbers continue to rise globally.

“Our study highlights the negative impact of obesity among all types of childhood cancers,” says co-senior author Thai Hoa Tran, MD, of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, in Montréal, Canada. “It provides the rationale to evaluate different strategies to mitigate the adverse risk of obesity on cancer outcomes in future trials.”

“It also reinforces the urgent need to reduce the epidemic of childhood obesity as it can result in significant health consequences.”

Finding the link

The results show that, out of 11,291 children diagnosed with cancer, 10.5% were obese at diagnosis. Researchers evaluated 5-year event-free survival — freedom from cancer relapse — and overall survival.

Obesity was classified as having an age and sex-adjusted body mass index at or above the 95th percentile.

Children with obesity at diagnosis showed lower rates of 5-year event-free survival — 77.5% compared to 79.6% — and overall survival — 83.0% compared to 85.9% — compared to their non-obese counterparts.

Latest developments

In related news, recent research suggests that reducing sugar consumption early in life may reduce the incidence of chronic disease later in life.

Meanwhile, a report by UK-based Action on Sugar revealed that certain commonly consumed combinations of children’s snacks are more than triple the daily sugar limit.

Also, Nutrition Insight spoke with a researcher who published a study showing that rising glucose and obesity levels across the globe are increasing the incidence of cardiometabolic disease in the US. At the same time, the US FDA is proposing mandatory front-of-package labels to increase health outcomes across the country.