International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Eating a high-fat diet during puberty can increase the chances of girls getting breast cancer later in life, according to a new study.

A research team from the US Michigan State University's Breast Cancer and the Environment Center previously discovered the hormone progesterone activates genes that trigger inflammation in the mammary gland, increasing the risk of breast cancer.

The researchers found that a high-fat diet during puberty has a similar effect as the progesterone.

Director of the centre physiology professor Sandra Haslam said: "The pubertal time period is crucial, as this is when the basic framework is created for mammary gland development.

"What we are seeing from preliminary research in animals is that a high-fat diet during puberty can lead to the production of inflammatory products in the mammary glands of adults, which can promote cancer growth."

Recently, it was revealed that if women eat a high-fat diet while nursing their child, they increase the likelihood of their offspring becoming obese, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins University in the US.

Posted by Carla Mackenzie