A study of 2,428 post-menopausal women from the UK, the US, Italy and Japan has found that levels of three different hormones were adversely affected by obesity. Obese women tended to have:

• raised levels of oestrogen and testosterone, which appeared to double their risk of developing breast cancer, and

• reduced levels of ‘sex hormone-binding globulin’, a substance which appeared to protect against breast cancer

The Cancer Research UK study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, also noted that Britain has the third highest obesity levels in the world, with 60% of adults and 25% of children four or under seriously overweight.

A separate study at Liverpool’s Health Authority and John Moores University (which, ironically, had originally been designed to identify children good at sport) found that 25% of primary school children were overweight and 14% clinically obese.

Ed.- Obesity is defined as 20% above the recommended weight for your height. It has tripled in the UK since 1980.