Anthropometric Indicators of Breast Cancer Risk in Japanese Women in Fukuoka

This study was based on a case‐control study of breast cancer risk in Fukuoka, which was initiated to identify risk factors for the disease. We re‐analyzed the data of the study to evaluate the association of breast cancer with anthropometric variables in postmenopausal women. Data were obtained through interviewing 121 cases with historically confirmed breast cancer and an equal number of age‐matched hospital controls as well as neighborhood controls. The variables used for analysis were; height, weight at various ages, shoe size, and brassiere size and body size indices (body surface area and various body build indices) computed from the height and weight data. In a multiple covariance analysis, the results showed that cases were slightly lighter in weight and smaller for some of the indices, but the differences were not statistically significant. The odds ratios, estimated by multiple logistic regression analysis, suggested that the cases were slightly shorter in height and smaller in shoe size without any consistent dose‐response gradients. The effect of changes in weight and body size indices with aging were also assessed, but no significant findings were observed. The results reported here do not support the hypothesis of the positive association between obesity or large body size and breast cancer.