Girls who love French fries raise risk of breast cancer

WASHINGTON - Very young children who often eat chips have a much higher risk of breast cancer as adults, researchers said this week.

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 per cent.

"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, 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 1569 women free of breast cancer in 1993.

Writing in the International Journal of Cancer, the researchers said they looked at the women's diets and at questionnaires filled out by the participants' mothers.

One risk factor for breast cancer stood out: women whose mothers said their daughters ate fried chips had a higher risk of breast cancer. This rose by 27 per cent for each weekly serving eaten.

"This data has to be interpreted cautiously since the observed association between consumption of fries and breast cancer is dependent on the validity of the maternal recall of the diet," she said.

"Mothers were asked to recall the preschool diet of their daughters after the participants' breast cancer status was known and it is possible that mothers of women with breast cancer recalled the 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."

A high-fat diet has been linked to breast cancer, which affects more than 200,000 US women a year and is expected to kill 40,000 this year.

- REUTERS