Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in America, specially in older women . Being overweight increases a woman's risk of developing colon cancer but where she stores the body fat determines how long she survives with the disease. Researchers followed about 1,000 post menopausal women with colon cancer for an average of 10 years and found that the women who were heavier before diagnosis were more likely to die from the disease, earlier than their thinner peers - yet another reason to avoid obesity throughout your life. Doing so increases the chances of survival if you are diagnosed with colon cancer.
Body weight refers to how you carry extra weight. You have heard about two body shapes- the ''apple" and the" pear". Apples tend to be apple shaped carrying excess weight in their chest and abdomen and look heavier on the top. Pears tend to be pear shaped and carry excess weight in their waist , butt and thighs and look heavier on the bottom. Dozens of studies show that having an apple shaped body increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and breast cancers. Scientists looked at data for weight, body mass index, waist size and waist to hip ratio and found that carrying extra weight at the waist and hip appeared to be more a factor in colon cancer deaths than overall weight or BMI. In other words a unhealthy waist hip ratio or adipose tissue distribution towards your bottom is a very important factor in colon cancer deaths. A waist to hip ratio of 0.80 or below is considered low risk. For instance, a woman with a waist of 27 inches and a hip of 36 inches has a waist to hip ratio of 0.75.
So maintaining a healthy body weight, life long body size , maintaining a healthy waist to hip ratio is a recommendation one can give for all post menopausal women.A waist circumference more than 40 inches, in men increases their risk of colon cancer also . So make sure you are only EATING apples and pears, not LOOKING like one !