Some 40 Maltese people develop cancer due to obesity every year, the second highest rate in Europe, according to a new international study published today.

The report, drafted by acclaimed medical journal The Lancet, found that 4.4 per cent of the 900 cancer cases recorded in Malta every year were the result of a high body mass index.

The Czech Republic had the highest rate in Europe at 5.5 per cent, followed by the UK and Malta, which had the same score.

Obesity-related cancer would appear to be a greater problem for women than men, mostly because of the high incidence of the disease in the womb and uterus as well as post-menopausal breast cancers.

In men, excess weight was responsible for two per cent or 136,000 new cancers in 2012 - in women it was 5.4 per cent or 345,000 new cases.

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