Immigrants in Norway have, with few exceptions, lower cancer incidence rate than the general population, according to the Cancer Registry. A likely explanation is their diet.
The results will appear in a new study from the Cancer Registry and is published in the scientific journal “International Journal of Cancer”, writes Aftenposten.
The exceptions from the main study are that men from Eastern Europe get lung cancer more frequently than Norwegian men, and some immigrant groups are at a higher risk of stomach and liver cancer than the Norwegian population.
– We see large differences in cancer incidence rates, especially when comparing non-western immigrants with the general population.
And in most cases the disparities are in the immigrants’ favour. Immigrants are particularly protected from typical lifestyle-related cancers, such as colon cancer and lung cancer, says the lead author Kirsti Vik Hjerkind from the Cancer Registry.
According to the researchers, the likely explanation is the western diet, which consists of increased fat, sugar, alcohol, red meat and salty, processed meat, while many immigrants probably eat a more plant-based diet which they bring from their home country.
Many of them also drink less alcohol and smoke less than what is typical in the West.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
