Investigating the Relationship between Body Mass Index, Cholesterol, and Cancer in United States Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI), cholesterol, and cancer in United States (US) adults. Data were collected from the 2020 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Eligible participants were US adults (≥18 years) with data on BMI, cholesterol, and cancer status, who were alive at the end of the data collection period. An adjusted logistic regression model assessed associations between eight possible combinations of BMI and cholesterol status (independent variable) with cancer diagnosis (dependent variable). Among 27,805 individuals in the 2020 MEPS data, 20,818 met the eligibility criteria (weighted N = 252,340,615). Of these 2668 (weighted N = 29,770,359) had cancer and 18,150 (weighted N = 222,570,256) did not have cancer. In the adjusted logistic regression model, underweight and normal weight individuals with high cholesterol were associated with higher odds of cancer (odds ratio, OR = 2.002, and 95% confidence interval, CI = 1.032–3.885, and OR = 1.326 and 95% CI = 1.047–1.681, respectively), while obese individuals with normal cholesterol were associated with lower odds of cancer (OR = 0.681; 95% CI = 0.543–0.853) compared to normal weight individuals with normal cholesterol. This study offers insights into specific groups of individuals who may be prioritized for cancer prevention. Further research is required to investigate these findings in additional subpopulations.