Pregnant women who gorge on fatty foods may increase the chances
of their daughters and even grand-daughters developing breast
cancer in later life. Researchers believe eating an unhealthy
diet can permanently alter the cells of an unborn baby – and
future generations. It suggests eating well in pregnancy could
reduce levels of breast cancer, the most common cancer in the UK
affecting one in eight women during their lives. Scientists at
Georgetown University in Washington DC fed pregnant rats either
a normal diet or one much higher in fat. For those on the fatty
diet, their daughters and grand-daughters which were fed
normally, were found to have a significantly higher risk of
developing breast cancer tumours. A fatty diet is linked to
higher levels of the female sex hormone oestrogen. Another group
of rat on the high fat diet who were also given oestrogen
supplements, affected the next three generations. While the
findings have not been confirmed in humans, lead author, Dr
Sonia de Assis said: ‘What a mother