Women with an average-sized waist of 34ins are more likely to develop womb cancer than those who are slimmer, researchers say.

Those with a 34in waist were found to have almost double the risk compared with those whose waists were 31 inches or less, an international study of 223,000 women suggests.

Obese women (with a body mass index of 30 or more) and those who put on more than 44lb (20kg) since the age of 20 had almost double the risk, the study found. More than 6,000 British women a year are diagnosed with womb cancer and about 1,000 die from it. Incidence of the disease has risen sharply in the past decade.

According to Cancer Research UK, which part-funded the study, 13.9 women per 100,000 developed the disease in 1994 but this rose to 16.8 women in 2003.

In 1994, there were almost 5,000 new cases but, in 2003, that figure was just over 6,400. The study, published online by the journal Cancer Causes and Control, found that obesity, abdominal fat and adult weight gain increased the risk of developing womb cancer, also known as endometrial cancer, by between 75 per cent and 78 per cent.

The paper was published by European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) scientists who analysed data from 223,000 women across 10 European countries.

Cancer Research UK said that the link between weight and the cancer was particularly strong in postmenopausal women and those who had never had hormone replacement therapy or used the Pill.

Dr Lesley Walker, the charity’s director of cancer information, said: “According to the National Sizing Survey conducted in 2004 the average British woman now has a 34in waist, which is over 6ins bigger than the average size of a woman in the 1950s, when it was 27.5ins.

“Women are larger than they were when they existed on a wartime diet and were generally more active and this is having serious consequences.”

Professor Christine Friedenreich, of the Alberta Cancer Board in Canada, who led the study, said: “This large study has provided very strong evidence that obesity and fat distribution increase endometrial cancer risk.” More work was needed on the increased risk to obese women who had never used HRT or taken the Pill.

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