Obese girls as young as seven years old are demonstrating signs of early puberty, a recent study shows, which could pose future health risks. Read the full story

Obese women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a later stage, according to a new study, pointing to the critical importance of mammograms. Read the full story

Obesity may contribute to a darker prognosis when it comes to breast cancer recurrence.  A new study suggests that breast cancer treatments don’t last as long for obese women. Read the full story

Check out this week’s Weight Loss Surgery News to find out more about a possible link between childhood obesity and missing DNA. Also, the saga continues in the ongoing debate about low-fat versus low-carb diets. Both diets provide weight loss, but one can cause serious heart problems. And, see what weight loss surgery has done for pro golfer John Daly – who weighed nearly 300 pounds at the beginning of 2009 and is now down to a much more flattering number. Read the full story

Cancer rates among people who are obese continue to rise, new studies indicate. Watch this week’s WLS News to find out more. Read the full story

Bariatric Surgery Reduces Cancer Chances, Study Says

In our next story, we recently reported on the positive effect that weight loss surgery can have on reducing the risk of ovarian cancer in older women. Now it appears the same benefits hold true for younger women, as well.  In San Antonio, TX, a team of researchers has presented evidence that bariatric surgery may help reduce the rates of several different kinds of cancers for women of all ages.

The study compared cancer rates between a group of women who underwent weight loss surgery and another group of obese women who did not opt for surgery. At the end of the study, 3.6% of the weight loss surgery patients developed some form of cancer, versus 5.8% of the participants who did not have surgery.

Interestingly, lead researcher Dr. Susan Modesitt noted that both groups of obese women with endometrial, breast, ovarian or colorectal cancers were younger at diagnosis compared with the mean ages from the state’s Cancer Registry for each type of cancer.