The longer a woman is overweight the higher her risk of cancer

According to new research, the longer a woman is overweight or obese, the more likely she is to develop a form of "female" cancer.  The research data, from the Women's Health Initiative, involved  73,913 post menopausal women.  The participants were cancer free at baseline and were monitored at 18, 35 and 50 years of age and then again after the menopause. 

In this first of its kind study, researchers looked at how long women carried extra weight and compared that with cancer incidence.

Researchers concluded that "For post menopausal breast and endometrial cancer, every 10 year increase in adulthood overweight duration was associated with a 5% and 17% increase in risk, respectively."