Children who are overweight face an increased risk of developing oesophageal cancer in later life, researchers have warned.
The Danish researchers warned that rising rates of childhood obesity could cause a future increase in cases of the cancer.
Their study involved people born between 1930 and 1971 and led to the researchers concluding that 2.1% of case of the cancer in adult men was the result of them being overweight as children.
Modern levels of childhood obesity would lead to this proportion rising to 17.5% in the future, they warned.
The research involved the records of some 255,000 schoolchildren. More than 250 developed by the cancer over the age of 40.
The findings were reported in the British Journal of Cancer.
Researcher Dr Jennifer Baker, of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said: “It may be that being overweight as a child is directly linked to a higher risk of developing this cancer in later life. Or it might be that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults, and we know that being above a healthy weight as an adult is a risk factor for many cancers, including oesophageal.
"More research is needed, but however the link works, our results underline how important it is for children to be a healthy weight – particularly as there is some evidence that overweight children could be at higher risk of other cancers later in life.”
Michael B. Cook et al. Childhood body mass index in relation to future risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. British Journal of Cancer 3 February 2015; doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.646 [abstract]
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