Obesity is one of the common health concerns around the world. The condition is characterized by excess accumulation of fat in the body, which can lead to severe health complications such as heart diseases, stroke, and high blood pressure. Being overweight can be due to multiple reasons including lack of adequate physical activity and large calorie intake. Besides these, gaining too much weight can also hamper your bone health and harm the joints. Many these days are aiming to lose excess body fat to achieve a toned physique but a chubbier appearance should be the only reason of worry for you.


Obesity can also increase the risk of cancer. Here are several ways obesity can lead to cancer.

  • Gaining those extra layers of fat can make your body more resistant to insulin. With this, the nutritionist says, the cells in the body fail to take up glucose effectively, which causes them to divide faster. And, this can result in cancer, which involves abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the body. 
  • People who are obese also tend to have higher levels of inflammatory cytokines in their blood, which can cause chronic inflammation and prompt faster division of cells. 
  • Another way excess body fat can cause cancer is by contributing to the estrogen levels. In postmenopausal women, obesity can increase the risk of ovarian and breast cancer.