Going up several skirt sizes in midlife could be a warning sign of increased cancer risk, researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have found.
Women who went up a skirt size every decade after their mid-20s had a 33 per cent greater risk of breast cancer after the menopause, say researchers at University College london.
Watching your skirt size from your mid-20s onwards could be a simple way to track weight gain, they told BMJ Open. Obesity is a known risk factor for cancer, particularly midriff fat. Professor Usha Menon of the Department of Women’s Cancer, who led the study, told BBC News: “If skirt size could be confirmed by others as a good predictor of breast cancer risk in older women, this would be a very simple and easy way to monitor weight gain.” The study tracked more than 90,000 women in their 50s and 60s living in England. During the three-year follow-up period, 1,090 women developed breast cancer.
The researchers found that a unit increase in UK skirt size every 10 years (for example from 12 to 14) between 25 and post-menopausal age was linked to a 33 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.
Going up two skirt sizes in the same period was associated with a 77 per cent greater risk, they said.