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Article: Heavy silence: why no one wants to talk about obesity and breast cancer.
- Article from:
- Reason
- Article date:
- April 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Reason Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Every October, this country celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But what are we supposed to be made aware of? That the disease exists? That's hardly necessary. How about that it's the most prevalent female cancer? Most women know that, too. Perhaps women should be made aware of what is probably the single most important controllable risk factor for breast cancer.
No, it's not power lines or DDT or toxic waste dumps. It's obesity.
Federal government weight specialists define obesity for women as having a body mass index of 27.3 or higher. (Your BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters.) Many studies have found ...