Body mass index and socioeconomic status measured in adolescence, country of origin, and the incidence of gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma in a cohort of 1 million men.

BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, little work has been done concerning adolescent precursors for gastroesophageal cancer. In the current study, the association of adolescent overweight as well as socioeconomic status (SES) with the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GEJAC), and noncardia gastric cancer (NCGC) was evaluated. METHODS: Body mass index (BMI) was measured in 1 million Israeli adolescent males who underwent a general health examination at a mean age of 17.3 ± 0.5 years from 1967 to 2005. Overweight was defined as a BMI ≥ 85th percentile of the standard US distribution in adolescence. Incident cancer was identified by linkage with the Israeli National Cancer Registry. RESULTS: A total of 182 incident cancer cases were documented (52 combined EAC and GEJAC cases and 130 NCGC cases). Adolescent overweight at baseline (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) was associated with an increased risk in the combined group of cases of EAC and GEJAC (multivariable hazards ratio [HR], 2.1; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.1-4.3 [P = .032]). Low SES (the lowest category vs the highest) as well as low number of years of education (≤ 9 years) were associated with an increased risk of intestinal-type NCGC (multivariable HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.0-4.8 [P = .041] and multivariable HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-3.19 [P = .020], respectively). The adjusted risk of NCGC was higher in immigrants born in Asian countries and the former Soviet Union. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight during adolescence was found to be substantially associated with the subsequent development of EAC and GEJAC. In addition, although potential confounding by Helicobacter pylori infection status or lifestyle factors was not fully accounted for in the analyses, lower SES as well as immigration from higher-risk countries are important determinants of NCGC.

The increasing prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases among Jewish adolescents and the sociodemographic factors associated with diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated with diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) among Jewish Israeli adolescents. METHODS: A total of 953,684 Jewish Israeli adolescents (57.8% men) who underwent a general health examination at mean age 17.3 ± 0.5 years from 1998 to 2010 were included. A definite diagnosis of IBD was based on laboratory, endoscopy, and pathology reports. Covariate data included socioeconomic status (SES) as defined by the Israel Central Bureau Statistics, and origin and number of children in household. RESULTS: A total of 2021 patients with IBD were identified (0.21%) in 13 annual cohorts. The prevalence of IBD increased from 149.4 cases per 100,000 to 301.0 cases per 100,000 in the first and last cohort (Ptrend = 0.003). Independent factors associated with occurrence of IBD were SES (high: odds ratio [OR] = 1.84, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.60-2.1, P < 0.001; medium: OR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.3-1.69, P < 0.001; low: reference), Western origin (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.53-1.90, P < 0.001; Asia Africa: reference), and male gender (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10-1.33, P < 0.001; female: reference). Four or more children in the household were associated with reduced OR for IBD [N ≥ 4: OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.62-0.72, P < 0.001, N = 1-3: reference]. The OR among adolescents of Western origin-high SES was 2.95 times higher compared with adolescents of Asia-African origin with low SES. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of IBD doubled during the 13 years of the study period. Among this large cohort of Jewish adolescents, for each origin, higher SES was associated with increased occurrence of IBD.

Measured body mass index in adolescence and the incidence of pancreatic cancer in a cohort of 720,000 Jewish men.

PURPOSE: The increasing prevalence of adolescent obesity affects adult health. We investigated the association of adolescent overweight with pancreatic cancer incidence in a cohort of 720,927 Jewish Israeli men. METHODS: Body mass index (BMI) was measured during a general health examination at ages 16-19 between the years 1967 and 1995. Overweight was defined as BMI ≥ 85th percentile of the reference US-CDC distribution in adolescence. Pancreatic cancer was identified by linkage with the Israel National Cancer Registry up to 2006. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 23.3 ± 8.0 years. During 16.8 million person-years, 98 cases of pancreatic cancer were detected. Using Cox proportional hazards modeling, overweight in adolescence predicted an increased risk of pancreatic cancer [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.09; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26-3.50, p = 0.005]. Compared with adolescents with 'normal' range BMI Z-scores (-1 to +1), adolescents with Z-scores > 1 showed significantly increased risk [HR, 2.28 (95% CI: 1.43-3.64), p = 0.001]. Lower education level (10 or less years of schooling vs. 11-12 years) was also associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer [HR 1.90 (95% CI: 1.27-2.86, p = 0.002)], whereas height, country of origin and immigration status were not. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent overweight is substantially associated with pancreatic cancer incidence in young to middle-aged adults. Applying our point estimates to the 16.8% prevalence of excess weight in Israeli adolescents in the past decade suggests a population fraction of 15.5% (95% CI: 4.2-29.6%) for pancreatic cancer attributable to adolescent overweight in Israel.

Measured body mass index in adolescence and the incidence of colorectal cancer in a cohort of 1.1 million males.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The increasing prevalence of adolescent obesity affects adult health. We investigated the association of adolescent overweight with colorectal cancer incidence in a large cohort of males. METHODS: Body mass index (BMI) was measured in 1.1 million Jewish Israeli males who underwent a general health examination at ages 16 to 19 between 1967 and 2005. Overweight was defined as BMI ≥ 85th percentile of the standard U.S. distribution in adolescence. Colorectal cancer was identified by linkage with the Israel National Cancer Registry up to 2006. The mean follow-up period was 17.6 ± 10.9 years, reflecting 19.5 million person-years. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used. RESULTS: The prevalence of adolescent overweight increased from 9.9% to 16.8% in the first 10 and last 10 annual examination cohorts. Colon (n = 445) and rectal cancer (n = 193) cases were detected. Overweight predicted an increased risk of colon cancer [HR = 1.53; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.17-2.02, P = 0.002] but not of rectal cancer (HR = 1.09; 95% CI, 0.38-1.73, P = 0.72). The risk was greatest for nonmucinous adenocarcinoma of the colon (HR = 1.68, 95% CI, 1.26-2.23, P = 0.001). The association of BMI ≥ 85th percentile with colon cancer was even more pronounced in analyses that were restricted to men followed until at least 40 years of age [N = 367,478; HR = 1.75 (95% CI, 1.33-2.3, P < 0.001)]. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent overweight is substantially associated with colon cancer incidence in young to middle-aged adults. IMPACT: These long-term sequelae add to the urgency to seriously address increasing childhood and adolescent obesity with its attendant increasing population impact.