Obesity is correlated with a growing list of cancers. The correlation and perhaps cause is greater with younger people.

Here is the (lack of) skinny from this article:

Researchers studied the incidence of 30 of the most common cancers, including 12 that are obesity related, from 1995 to 2014 in people ages 25 to 84 — more than 14.6 million cases…the risk for disease increased in adults 25 to 49, with the magnitude of the increases steeper with younger age.

That means that more and more younger people are getting cancer simply because they are obese. This is a troubling trend, to say the least, and with smoking rates declining, this could very well reign as the most preventable cause of cancer.

We always say it, but we’ll say it again — getting healthy at any age is important, but making exercise and good diet a focal point for children will go a long way to keeping them healthy for the rest of their lives.

-Shane M.