Obesity in survivors of cancer: It is good news and bad news

Article Outline

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The increased prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents across the United States has raised concerns about future risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. An increasing concern has been whether children and adolescents with other chronic conditions might be at even greater risk of obesity. This could occur because of therapies related to the original condition or changes in energy balance due to changes in diet of physical activity. One group of concern is pediatric survivors of cancer.

In this issue of The Journal, Nathan et al present the results of a study of Canadian children and adolescents who are survivors of cancer. The good news is that the prevalence of overweight was not greater in the cancer survivors than the general population. The bad news is that a substantial proportion of these pediatric patients are overweight. It is possible that overweight may be even more important in cancer survivors because of physiologic changes due to their original disease or the aggressive treatment they have received.