Millennials set to be the fattest generation of Britons, research shows

Millennials are set to be the fattest generation of Britons, with 70% dangerously overweight before they hit middle age, research shows.

People born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s are set to overtake baby boomers as the age group with the highest proportion of overweight or obese people, according to Cancer Research UK.

While half the postwar generation were too heavy by the time they reached 35 to 44, more than seven in 10 millennials will be by 2026-28. That would make them the most overweight age group in British history, Cancer Research said.

Prof Linda Bauld, a cancer prevention expert at the charity, said the projection showed many millennials, despite their reputation for “following seemingly healthy food trends”, needed to improve their eating habits, cut down on junk food and eat more fruit, vegetables and fibre.

The trend among millennials is worrying because carrying excess weight as an adult is linked to 13 types of cancer, including breast, bowel and kidney cancer, Cancer Research said.

“These figures paint a worrying picture for the future. We cannot overlook concrete evidence that being overweight increases the risk of developing breast cancer,” said Rachel Rawson, a senior clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Care.

“It’s within our grasp to make simple lifestyle changes like bumping up exercise and eating a healthy balanced diet. However, other risk factors – such as being a woman and getting older – remain out of women’s control,” she added.

The World Cancer Research Fund said the number of adults and children worldwide at increased risk of the disease because they are obese had risen sharply since 1975.

Kate Allen, the fund’s science and public affairs director, said: “The increase in numbers over the past 40 years is truly astronomical, over 1,000% in some cases – and these numbers just cover obesity. An additional 213 million children and adolescents and 1.3 billion adults are in the overweight range, even if they are below the threshold for obesity. So, a disturbingly sizeable proportion of the population of our planet is overweight or obese.

 “Given the global burden of cancers linked to weight, plus declining smoking rates, at least in the developed world, [being] overweight and obesity could overtake smoking as the main preventable risk for cancer within our lifetimes. That’s why it’s so important to step up global efforts now.”

Polling evidence that just 15% of Britons know that obesity increases the risk of cancer has prompted Cancer Research to launch a campaign on Monday highlighting the link. Advertisements will use a hangman-style game to ask: “Guess what is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking.”

It will also use online ads that have the same question displayed on the side of what looks like a packet of cigarettes, which then opens to reveal that the carton is full of chips. A pilot of the campaign in the West Midlands in 2016 raised awareness by 22%, Cancer Research claims.

Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you

Prof Russell Viner, the officer for health promotion at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “This campaign is hugely welcome, long overdue and is necessarily hard-hitting as we know that despite the well-publicised obesity problem, there remains limited appetite to take bold steps to combat it. There is a danger that being overweight is becoming normalised, as we know that many people struggle to recognise obesity in themselves, and often are unable to see when their child is overweight.”

He added: “Knowledge of the links between cancer and smoking have driven smoking rates down dramatically amongst our young people. We need the same recognition of the dangers of obesity.”

Public Health England is working with many major food manufacturers to try and get them to reformulate their products to make them healthier, for example by reducing sugar content.

Prof Louis Levy, its head of nutrition science, said: “We know overweight and obese children are likely to be the same when they become adults. The majority of UK adults are already overweight or obese and, in addition to some cancers, it is a cause of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter