High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk

High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who consume highlevels of diary products may have a greater risk of developingcolorectal cancer in adulthood, study findings suggest.
Among nearly 5,000 individuals followed for an average of65 years, those who grew up in families reporting the highestlevels of dairy consumption -- nearly 2 cups per day -- hadclose to three-times the risk of colorectal cancer comparedwith those from families reporting the lowest intake, Dr.Jolieke C. van der Pols and colleagues report.
The level of milk consumption in the high-diary group wassimilar to the estimated average daily intake of children inthe United States, van der Pols, of the University ofQueensland, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues noted.
Links between colorectal cancer risk and childhood exposureto dairy products have not been previously evaluated, theresearchers said.
Using data from a study of weekly food consumption infamilies living in England or Scotland from 1937 to 1939, theresearchers estimated the daily dairy intake ranged from lessthan half a cup at the lowest to nearly 2 cups at the highest.Nearly all, 94 percent, of the diary produces came fromdrinking milk, they report in the American Journal of ClinicalNutrition.
Among the 4,374 individuals still available for follow-upbetween 1948 and 2005, the investigators identified 35registrations and 41 deaths from colorectal cancer.
An increased risk of colorectal cancer among those whoconsumed the highest amounts of dairy during childhood wasstill seen after the investigators adjusted the data forpotentially influential factors such as meat, fruit, andvegetable consumption; and socioeconomic status.
However, van der Pols' group cautions that more completelife-course assessments comparing dairy intake with relateddietary and lifestyle factors must be completed beforedefinitive conclusions can be made for dairy intake inchildhood.
SOURCE: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,December 2007.