New study strongly links fat, and cancer

Unlike many USA Today articles, this one is pretty comprehensive, including sidebars

Put down the bacon! Report emphasizes cancer-fat links – USATODAY.com

There is more evidence than ever that a person who weighs too much is more likely to develop cancer, a landmark report said Wednesday.

And forget eating bacon, sausage and lunchmeat. No amount is considered completely safe, according to the analysis from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund.

An international panel of experts reviewed more than 7,000 large-scale studies and spent five years developing the report (www.dietandcancerreport.org).

Excess body fat increases the risk of cancer of the colon, kidney, pancreas, esophagus and uterus as well as postmenopausal breast cancer, the report says.

READ THE REPORT: No amount of processed meat considered completely safe

"This was a much larger impact than even the researchers expected," says Karen Collins, a cancer institute nutrition adviser. "People forget body fat is not an inert glob that we are carrying around on the waistline and thighs. It’s a metabolically active tissue that produces substances in the body that promote the development of cancer."