According to the American Association for Cancer Research,

• Excessive body fat** is the second leading preventable cause of cancer; it causes about 1 in every 14 cancer cases in the US.
• Obesity is increasing very rapidly (at about 1% each year): obesity affects nearly half the US population.

** Excess body weight is formally defined as pre-obesity (BMI = 25 to 29.9) and obesity (BMI = at least 30). However, note that excess body fat (especially fat near or in between internal organs), not high BMI alone, is the culprit in raising cancer risk. More details on this will be in the child nodes.