AJCN North Carolina Research Campus
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by van der Pols, J. C
Right arrow Articles by Martin, R. M
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by van der Pols, J. C
Right arrow Articles by Martin, R. M
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by van der Pols, J. C
Right arrow Articles by Martin, R. M
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 86, No. 6, 1722-1729, December 2007
© 2007 American Society for Nutrition

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION

Childhood dairy intake and adult cancer risk: 65-y follow-up of the Boyd Orr cohort1,2,3

Jolieke C van der Pols, Chris Bain, David Gunnell, George Davey Smith, Clare Frobisher and Richard M Martin

1 From the Longitudinal Studies Unit, Division of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia (JCvdP and CB); the Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom (DG, GDS, and RMM); and the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom (CF)

Background: Dairy consumption affects biological pathways associated with carcinogenesis. Evidence for a link between cancer risk and dairy consumption in adulthood is increasing, but associations with childhood dairy consumption have not been studied adequately.

Objective: We investigated whether dairy consumption in childhood is associated with cancer incidence and mortality in adulthood.

Design: From 1937 through 1939, some 4999 children living in England and Scotland participated in a study of family food consumption, assessed from 7-d household food inventories. The National Health Service central register was used to ascertain cancer registrations and deaths between 1948 and 2005 in the 4383 traced cohort members. Per capita household intake estimates for dairy products and calcium were used as proxy for individual intake.

Results: During the follow-up period, 770 cancer registrations or cancer deaths occurred. High childhood total dairy intake was associated with a near-tripling in the odds of colorectal cancer [multivariate odds ratio: 2.90 (95% CI: 1.26, 6.65); 2-sided P for trend = 0.005] compared with low intake, independent of meat, fruit, and vegetable intakes and socioeconomic indicators. Milk intake showed a similar association with colorectal cancer risk. High milk intake was weakly inversely associated with prostate cancer risk (P for trend = 0.11). Childhood dairy intake was not associated with breast and stomach cancer risk; a positive association with lung cancer risk was confounded by smoking behavior during adulthood.

Conclusions: A family diet rich in dairy products during childhood is associated with a greater risk of colorectal cancer in adulthood. Confirmation of possible underlying biological mechanisms is needed.

Key Words: Dairy products • neoplasms • life-course analysis • incidence • mortality • United Kingdom






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2007 by The American Society for Nutrition