In a paper by Walsh et al,1 there was concern expressed that excess body weight (EBW) contributes to many cancers in New Zealand, compounding health inequities with higher proportions of EBW-attributable cancers within Māori and Pacific populations. Pacific peoples had the highest population attributable fraction (PAF) (11.8%), and this was highest among Pacific females (16.1%). Māori also had a higher PAF (6.9%) than European/Other (4.5%).
Early detection and prevention are important. The greatest number of cancers attributable to EBW were colorectal (1,801), followed by uterine (1,331) and breast cancer among postmenopausal females (1,231).
As published in NZ Doctor and Research Review
