Overweight and obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK after smoking, and causes at least 13 different types of cancer. Both obesity prevalence and cancer incidence vary by socioeconomic deprivation, with more deprived populations generally experiencing poorer health outcomes.
This analysis combined data on cancer incidence, overweight and obesity prevalence, and cancer risk to estimate the proportion of cancer cases attributable to overweight and obesity in each deprivation quintile for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The aim was to investigate whether more deprived areas have a higher proportion of cancers attributable to overweight and obesity, compared to less deprived areas.
The estimated proportion of cancer cases attributable to overweight and obesity was generally higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas across the UK.
A moderate deprivation gap was observed among females in all four UK nations. The proportion of cancer cases attributable to overweight and obesity was 10-29% higher amongst females living in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas.
The deprivation gap was generally smaller among males, reflecting weaker socioeconomic differences in overweight and obesity prevalence in males compared with females.
Wales showed the largest deprivation gap, with the proportion of cancer cases attributable to overweight and obesity estimated to be 29% higher among females and 36% higher among males in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas.
These findings suggest that the impact of overweight and obesity on cancer is not experienced equally across society. While reducing obesity prevalence in the population could help prevent cancer cases across all socioeconomic groups, these findings suggest that action to reduce inequalities in obesity may be particularly important for narrowing inequalities in cancer outcomes.
Future research should continue to improve understanding of how cancer risks vary across the population, and explore how changes in overweight and obesity prevalence may influence future cancer inequalities.
Read the report in fullNick Payne, Anne Alarilla, Christine Delon Magda Mikolajczyk & Katrina Brown.
