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Obesity and overweight in relation to organ-specific cancer mortality in London (UK): findings from the original Whitehall study

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 1267–1274 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To examine the relation of obesity and overweight with organ-specific cancer mortality.

METHODS:

In the Whitehall prospective cohort study of London-based government employees, 18 403 middle-age men participated in a medical examination between 1967 and 1970. Subjects were followed up for cause-specific mortality for up to 35 y (median: interquartile range (25th–75th centile); 28.1 y: 18.6–33.8).

RESULTS:

There were over 3000 cancer deaths in this cohort. There was a raised risk of mortality from carcinoma of the rectum, bladder, colon, and liver, and for lymphoma in obese or overweight men following adjustment for range of covariates, which included socioeconomic position and physical activity. These relationships held after exclusion of deaths occurring in the first 20 y of follow-up.

CONCLUSION:

Avoidance of obesity and overweight in adult life may reduce the risk of developing some cancers.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the civil servants who gave of their time to take part in the baseline study. The original screening of participants in the Whitehall study was funded by the Department of Health and Social Security and the Tobacco Research Council. Martin Shipley and Elizabeth Breeze are supported by the British Heart Foundation; Michael Marmot by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC). When work on this report began, David Batty was financed by the UK MRC at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and subsequently by a University Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Copenhagen. He is now the recipient of a Wellcome Advanced Training Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 4 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, UK

    G D Batty

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, UK

    G D Batty

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK

    M J Shipley, E Breeze & M G Marmot

  4. Bishopsthorpe Road, London, UK

    R J Jarrett

  5. Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    G Davey Smith

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  1. G D Batty
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  6. G Davey Smith
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Correspondence to G D Batty.

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Batty, G., Shipley, M., Jarrett, R. et al. Obesity and overweight in relation to organ-specific cancer mortality in London (UK): findings from the original Whitehall study. Int J Obes 29, 1267–1274 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803020

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