Childhood energy intake might explain the link between height and cancer risk

An association is known to exist between adult height and cancer mortality, but the reasons for this have been unclear. On p 1351 Davey Smith et al report on prospective observational data from the Whitehall study which confirms this association. They propose that dietary energy intake during growth may explain the increase in mortality with height. Pre-pubertal growth is largely due to increasing leg length, and Gunnell et al (p 1350) report a study of such data from the Boyd Orr cohort. They found that childhood leg length showed a significant positive association with mortality from non-smoking related cancers and suggest that both could be explained by changes in insulin-like growth factor concentration related to diet.


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