Study Ties French Fries To Breast Cancer Risk

Girls who eat lots of French fries during their pre-school years grow up to have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Their study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, categorizes the increased risk as "significant."

The study involved more than 2,000 female registered nurses, and found that those who regularly consumed French fries when they were young had a higher incidence of breast cancer than those who did not.

The authors said the study provides additional credence to the belief that early eating habits impact a woman’s health later in life.

The study examined the diets of the women when they were between the ages of three and five. Mothers of the subjects were questioned about the frequency of consumption of about 30 specific food items.

Upon reviewing the data, researchers say they found that for each additional serving of French fries per week when they were preschoolers women had a 27 percent increased risk of breast cancer later in life.

What’s the connection? Researchers say more study is needed, but that it’s unlikely potatoes are the culprit. Instead, they suggest that frying the potatoes in fat and trans-fatty acids might play a role.