Chip Diet for Under-Fives ‘Can Increase Risk’ of Adult Breast Cancer

YOUNGSTERS who regularly eat chips may face an increased risk of breast cancer in later life, research suggested yesterday.

Diet has long been known to influence the development of several types of cancer, with overweight and obese people most at risk.

Now an American study claims that the diet of pre-school children affects their chances of getting breast cancer much later in life.

In particular, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, said that regularly eating chips was linked to a significantly increased risk of breast cancer.

They analysed data from 582 women with breast cancer and 1,569 women without the disease in 1993, who were part of the Nurses’ Health Studies.

The researchers looked at the diets of the women when they were aged three to five by asking their mothers how often their daughters ate or drank various products.

Researcher Dr Karin Michels and colleagues estimated that for each additional serving of chips per week that a woman ate as a pre- schooler, her risk of breast cancer in later life increased by 27 per cent.

The researchers said that while eating potatoes themselves was not associated with increased risk, the preparation of chips – frying in saturated fats and trans-fatty acids – may be of relevance.

The study, published online in the International Journal of Cancer, also found that regular consumption of whole fat milk each day was linked to a small decrease in breast cancer risk.

Dr Michels, associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said: “Researchers are finding more evidence that diet early in life could play a role in the development of diseases in women later in life.

“This study provides additional evidence that breast cancer may originate during the early phases of a woman’s life and that eating habits during that phase may be particularly important to reduce future risk of breast cancer.”

Dr Michels said that little information was available on the role of diet during early life for breast cancer risk.

“Breast cancer is a devastating disease and research such as this is important in helping guide future studies that will demonstrate how women can reduce their risk,” she added.

Anna Wood, policy and research manager at Breast Cancer Care, welcomed further research into lifestyle factors in childhood that could increase the risk of the disease later on.

But she said women need to watch their diet throughout their lives, which has many health benefits, to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

Pamela Goldberg, the chief executive of the UK’s Breast Cancer Campaign also found studies looking into how nutrition in early life, puberty and beyond might affect the risk of developing breast cancer of great interest.

She added: “We would encourage women of all ages to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables to improve their general health.”