Grace Wyshak and Frisch, both researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, are analyzing data on 5,400 women who graduated from eight colleges, including Harvard-Radcliffe, Vassar, and the universities of Wisconsin and Southern California. They are comparing the health and cancer rates of those who were athletes with those who were not. Frisch and Wyshak first studied alums from these schools 15 years ago. They found that women between 20 and 80 years old who were college athletes had significantly fewer cancers of the breast, ovaries, uterus, and cervix than their less physically active classmates. They also enjoyed a lower risk of adult-onset diabetes.
Leaner women derive their advantage from the fact that fat makes estrogen.
That hormone, in turn, causes cells of the breast, ovaries, and uterus to grow and divide more often. The more frequently cells divide, the greater the chance of a mutation in their genes that might lead to cancer. Leaner women are also less likely to develop resistance to insulin, a condition that can lead to diabetes. Lean does not always mean lightweight. Frisch found that a woman athlete's body has 30 to 40 percent less fat than a sedentary female, although they both may weigh the same.