Birth Size and Colorectal Cancer Risk

Do you remember what your birth length was? Me neither. Never really had a reason to. But a study published in the journal Gut has made those seemingly-useless baby stats relevant to our adult lives.

When Norwegian researchers examined the medical and birth records of more than 20,000 people, they found that birth size had an impact on colorectal cancer risk.

Specifically, men with a birth length of fewer than 51 centimeters (about 20 inches) were almost twice as likely to get colorectal cancer in adulthood than men with a birth length of more than 53 centimeters (about 21 inches).

For women, size didn't matter.

Think this study's weird? All kinds of things have been linked to colorectal cancer risk, including alcohol, asbestos, and even working the night shift.

_{Source: Nilsen, T. and Romundstad, P. "Birth Size and Colorectal Cancer Risk: A Prospective Population Based Study." 54 (Apr. 2005): 1728-1732. 26 Aug. 2006.}