Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Oct;36(4):259-62.
doi: 10.4103/0970-0218.91326.

Association of overweight and obesity with breast cancer in India

P Singh  1 , Umesh Kapil, Nk Shukla, Svs Deo, Sn Dwivedi
Affiliations

Association of overweight and obesity with breast cancer in India

P Singh et al. Indian J Community Med. 2011 Oct.

Abstract

Background: In women, cancer of the breast is one of the most common incident cancer and cause of death from cancer. Anthropometric factors of weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) have been associated with breast cancer risk.

Objectives: To study the association of overweight and obesity with breast cancer in India.

Materials and methods: A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted. Three hundred and twenty newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and three hundred and twenty normal healthy individuals constituted the study population. The subjects in the control group were matched individually with the patients for their age ±2 years and socioeconomic status. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were recorded utilizing the standard equipments and methodology. The paired 't' test and univariate logistic regression analysis were carried out.

Results: It was observed that the patients had a statistically higher mean weight, body mass index, and mid upper arm circumference as compared to the controls. It was observed that the risk of breast cancer increased with increasing levels of BMI. Overweight and obese women had Odd's redio of 1.06 and 2.27, respectively, as compared to women with normal weight.

Conclusions: The results of the present study revealed a strong association of overweight and obesity with breast cancer in the Indian population.

Keywords: Breast cancer; India; case-control study; obesity; overweight.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

References

    1. Parkin DM. Cancers of the breast, endometrium and ovary: geographic correlations. Eur J Cancer Clin Oncol. 1989;25:1917–25. - PubMed
    1. Lin TM, Chen KP, MacMohan B. Epidemiological characteristics of cancer of the breast in Taiwan. Cancer. 1971;27:1497–504. - PubMed
    1. Li CI, Malone KE, White E, Daling JR. Age when maximum height is reached as a risk factor for breast cancer among young U.S. Epidemiology. 1997;8:559–65. - PubMed
    1. Friedenreich CM. Physical activity and cancer: lessons learned from nutritional epidemiology. Nutr Rev. 2001;59:349–57. - PubMed
    1. Graham S, Hellmann R, Marshall J, Freudenheim J, Vena J, Swanson M, et al. Nutritional epidemiology of postmenopausal breast cancer in western New York. Am J Epidemiol. 1991;134:552–66. - PubMed