Children who are overweight appear to be at increased risk of cancer later in life, according to an analysis of British records.

A group of children had their height and weight measured at 14 centers in England and Scotland between 1937 and 1939. Some 2300 of these subjects, who were between 2 and 14 years of age at the time of measurement, were subsequently identified through the National Health Service Central Register.

A total of 188 men and 192 women developed cancer during 50 years of follow-up.

Using these data, Dr. Mona Jeffreys, of Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, and colleagues estimated the relative risk of all cancers, smoking-related cancers, and certain site-specific cancers in relation to deviation from the norm for body mass index during childhood.

The risk of adulthood cancer increased by 9 percent for every standard increment in childhood BMI, the team reports in the International Journal of Cancer. No other factors such as socioeconomic status, body composition, energy intake during childhood, or birth order seemed to have an effect.

Most of the increase in cancer risk was seen in smoking-related cancers.

“If the cancer risk among today’s young people mimics that of previous generations, our observations suggest that the impact of current childhood obesity on the cancer burden in the second half of this century may be substantial,” the investigators write. “Efforts to reverse the increasing prevalence of obesity must continue to be supported.”

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, November 1, 2004.