French fries in childhood raise breast cancer risk

Very young children who eat French fries frequently have a much higher risk of breast cancer as adults, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

A study of American nurses found that one additional serving of fries per week at ages three to five increased breast cancer risk by 27 percent.

"Researchers are finding more evidence that diet early in life could play a role in the development of diseases in women later in life," said Dr. Karin Michels, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School, who led the study.

"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."

For their study, Michels and colleagues used an ongoing survey of female registered nurses. They studied 582 women with breast cancer and 1,569 women free of breast cancer in 1993, reports Reuters.

According to Daily Mail, 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 their data should be interpreted with caution as information on diet was dependent on the mother's ability to recall her daughter's diet.

"Mothers were asked to recall their daughter's pre-school diet after the participants' breast cancer status was known and it is possible that mothers of women with breast cancer recalled their daughter's diet differently than mothers of healthy women.

"Other foods perceived as less healthy such as hot dogs or ice cream, however, were not associated with breast cancer risk," she said.