Researchers at the University of Bristol’s Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Program (ICEP) have presented new evidence that how fat is distributed in people’s bodies, not just obesity, could make a difference to their risk of developing certain cancers. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute , found that the accumulation of certain body fats—such as visceral fat and liver fat—affects the risk of 12 obesity-related cancers, independent of BMI.

“These findings support the growing consensus that BMI, while useful for population-level trends, may be too simplistic for assessing individual health risks,” said the study’s lead author Emma Hazelwood, PhD, a cancer evolution researcher at the University of Bristol. “Our results tell us that there is no ‘one-size-f

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