The one-fourth of people eating a diet with the highest glycemic index or highest glycemic load were 26 percent more likely to develop colorectal cancer compared to the one-fourth eating a diet with the lowest glycemic load. This according to an analysis of 39 studies.

The risk of colon cancer was 33 percent greater in men 40- to 75-years-old who had gained 10 pounds for every 10 years since the age of 21 according to a study from Walter Willett at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and others.

A weight gain of 10 pounds in the previous 2-4 years increased the risk 14 percent.

Nearly one-third (29.5 percent) of all cases of colon cancer in men 40- to 75-years-old were attributable to a body mass index (BMI) above 22.5 (lean) according to a study from Walter Willett at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and others.

“Our results add support that overweight and obesity are modifiable risk factors for colon cancer among men and suggest that weight has an important influence on colon cancer risk even in later life,” the researchers concluded.

A person with a body mass index (BMI) of 20—low normal—is 18 percent less likely to get bowel cancer than a person with a BMI of 25—high normal—according to a study from the World Cancer Research Fund as reported by the British newspaper the Telegraph.

Obesity is involved in 10 percent of cases of colon cancer notes the report Storing Up Problems: The Medical Case for a Slimmer Nation by the Royal College of Physicians.

A difference of about 60 pounds increases the risk of colorectal cancer 1.6-fold in postmenopausal women according to a study from the University of Oxford in Oxford, England.

Obese men are 80 percent more likely to get colorectal cancer than normal weight men according to a study of men and women in Ontario and Newfoundland, Canada.

An increase of 5 units in body mass index (BMI), which is roughly 30 pounds for a woman of average height and 35 pounds for a man of average height, increases the risk of colon cancer 30 percent in men and 12 percent in women according to an analysis by researchers from Sweden.

An increase of 5 units in body mass index (BMI), which is roughly 30 pounds for a woman of average height and 35 pounds for a man of average height, increases the risk of rectal cancer 12 percent in men and 3 percent in women according to an analysis by researchers from Sweden.

Men who get an hour of leisure-time physical activity per day are 44 percent less likely to get colon cancer and 41 percent less likely to get rectal cancer than men who get less than 10 minutes of leisure-time exercise per day according to study by researchers from Sweden.

Women with a body mass index (BMI) of 29—almost obese—are 45 percent more likely to get colon cancer than thin women with a BMI of 21 or less according to a study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Among countries in the European Union, 3.4 percent of all cancers in men and 6.4 percent of all cancer in women are attributable to overweight and obesity according to a paper published in the British Medical Journal.

People who consume the most onions reduce the risk of various cancers by 25-88 percent according to a study from Italy.

Excess belly fat increases the risk of colon cancer in women according to a study of 24,072 women in Australia. 

Body mass index (BMI) is not associated with colon polyps, however, exercise dramatically reduces the risk of polyps in men according to a study from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA.

Elevated fasting blood sugar levels—above 140 mg/dL—increase the risk of cancer death by 29 percent in men and 23 percent in women compared to people with the lowest blood sugar levels—less than 90 mg/dL—according to a study from Korea.

Obesity doubles the risk of colon cancer according to the U.S. NIH’s Obesity Guidelines (p. 18).

Type II diabetes and chronically elevated levels of insulin are associated with an increased risk of cancers of the colon, breast, pancreas, kidney, and endometrium.

Being overweight or obese may account for 28 percent of female cases of colorectal cancer in the U.S..

Being overweight or obese may account for 35 percent of male cases of colorectal cancer in the U.S.

Being overweight increases the risk of colorectal cancer 50 percent in men and 20 percent in women. Obesity increases the risk of colorectal cancer 100 percent in men and 50 percent in women. 

Being overweight increases a woman???s risk of colorectal cancer by 72 percent, and being obese increases the risk 67 percent compared to lean women according to a new study from researchers at Harvard University.

Being 20-29 percent over ideal weight increases the risk of dying from colorectal cancer by 23 percent in men and 10 percent in women according to a study done by the American Cancer Society involving 750,000 people determined the risk of dying from individual diseases. 

Colon cancer was 3.4 times as common among Japanese women with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 or more compared with women whose BMI was 20-22. No such trend was found among Japanse men.

Waist circumference is a stronger predictor of colon cancer risk than is BMI according to a study from researchers at Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass.