Obesity Decreases Likelihood of Getting Important Screening

There is an unfortunate correlation between obestity and preventive health screening in the United States. People who suffer from severe problems with being overweight and are less likely to get screened for certain kinds of cancers. This is a problem specifically because the incidence of developing these cancers is higher in people who are overweight. Studies in the past have shown that people suffering from obesity are less likely to get colon cancer screening, breast cancer screening and cervical cancer screening. A recent study of women in Canada reveals that the problem is not as extensive there but that obese Canadian women do seem less likely to get cervical cancer screening than their healthy-weight counterparts. It is believed that more education of patients by their doctors would alter this trend. Doctors dealing with obese patients should emphasize the importance of all types of cancer health screening with particular attention to these three types of cancer. Question of the Day: What is the reason that obesity is correlated with decreased screening rates? photo link