Chips could double cancer risk for kids

Giving chips to your young daughter could dramatically increase her risk of Breast cancer in later life, researchers say.

An American study claims that regularly eating chips could double the chances of pre-school kids developing the disease when they are older.

The researchers looked at the diets of women when they were aged three to five, using information from their mothers who were asked how often their daughters ate or drank various products.

Researcher Dr Karin Michels 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.

But Dr Michels said the data should be interpreted with caution as information on diet was dependent on the mother's ability to recall her what her daughter ate.

"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.

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