Overweight after childhood cancer?

Together with researchers from North America, the research group Paediatric Cancer Epidemiology Group at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) at the University of Bern has investigated how often adults who had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) as a child later become overweight or obese (severely overweight).

All children with ALL receive high doses of steroids, also known as cortisone, over a long period of time. Furthermore, in the past, many more children with ALL received radiation treatment around their head. Both treatments can lead to weight gain. Being overweight can lead to other health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. It is important to understand how many and which former childhood cancer patients are affected by weight problems in order to develop preventive measures.

For the study, the researchers asked former childhood cancer patients from Switzerland and North America, as well as their siblings, about their height and weight. This was done as part of the two questionnaire studies “Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study” (SCCSS) and “Childhood Cancer Survivor Study” (CCSS). The researchers evaluated the data of almost 2,000 people who had had ALL and more than 2,500 siblings.

They found that in North America, two-thirds of people who had had ALL are overweight; in Switzerland, it was “only” a third. Weight problems were reported with similar frequency among siblings. This means that lifestyle and social environment have a much greater influence on obesity than cancer treatment. Obesity was particularly common among older study participants (over 45 years old) and those with low incomes. Preventive measures for weight problems in follow-up care can therefore follow the same pattern as recommendations for the general population.

Find out more information on the study here. For more interesting results from the research group, go to www.swiss-ccss.ch