Mother's diet lowers child's leukaemia risk

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Mother's diet lowers child's leukaemia risk

 

28/09/2004 - Women who eat a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and

protein before pregnancy may lower the risk of having a child who

develops leukaemia, Britain's biggest child killer disease, suggests

recent US research.

 

" This is the first time researchers have conducted a systematic survey

of a woman's diet and linked it to the risk of childhood leukaemia, "

said Dr. Kenneth Olden, director of the US National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences, the body that funded the study.

 

Researchers at the University of California, Berkley compared 138

women who each had a child diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic

leukaemia (ALL) with a control group of 138 women whose children did

not have cancer. The children of all the women in the study were

matched by sex, age, race, and county of residence at birth.

 

After comparing the women's diets in the 12 months prior to pregnancy,

researchers found that the higher the intake of vegetables, fruit and

protein-rich foods, the lower the risk of having a child with leukaemia.

 

" The health benefits of fruits and vegetables have been known for a

long time, " said principal investigator Gladys Block, professor of

epidemiology and public health nutrition at U.C. Berkeley. " We found

in this study that the protein foods group is also very important. "

 

After further studies, the researchers discovered that glutathione -

an antioxidant found in meat and legumes - was the nutrient in the

protein group that had a strong link to lower cancer risk.

 

Moreover, the fruits and vegetables that seemed to be the most closely

associated with a lower cancer risk were those that are high in

carotenoids, such as carrots, string beans and cantaloupe.

 

Researchers also studied the use of vitamin supplements, but did not

find a statistically significant link to childhood leukaemia risk.

 

A conference held in London earlier this month similarly drew

attention to the potential importance of diet during the early years

of a child's life. Organised by the charity Children with Leukaemia

heard that plant foods as well as the spice turmeric may have a

protective effect against leukaemia.

 

Dr Marilyn Kwan and her colleagues from U.C. Berkeley found that

regular consumption of oranges and/or bananas during the first two

years of life was associated with a reduced risk of childhood leukaemia.

 

Leukaemia kills more children in Britain than any other disease and

cases of this and some other childhood cancers in developed nations

has been rising at around 1 to 3 per cent each year for the past 50 years.

 

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