Obesity: Cancer
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has his Department has made of the potential impact of childhood obesity on risk of cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
A specific assessment of a direct link between childhood obesity and the risk of cancer has not been made. However, there is evidence that children and adolescents living with obesity are more likely to remain living with obesity as adults. There is also evidence that adults living with obesity have a higher risk of developing several types of cancer, with further information available at the following link:
Data suggests that 6% of cancer cases in the United Kingdom are attributable to obesity and overweight, including:
- 34% of uterine cancer cases, or 3,000 out of 9,000;
- 24% of kidney cancer cases, or 2,900 out of 12,400;
- 17% of upper gastrointestinal cancer cases, or 5,600 out of 32,400;
- 11% of colorectal cancer cases, or 4,800 out of 41,800; and
- 8% of breast cancer cases, or 4,600 out of 55,100.
Further information on this data is available at the following link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-018-0029-6
The National Child Measurement Programme collects data on children aged four to five years old, who would be in reception, and 10 to 11 years old, who would be in year 6. In the 2023/24 school year, data on childhood obesity in England indicates that 22.1% of children in reception and 35.8% in year 6 were overweight or living with obesity. Further information on childhood obesity in England is available at the following link:
The Department has commissioned research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to quantify the health and social impacts of obesity during childhood and is awaiting results, with further information available at the following link:
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