Sugary drinks hike cancer risk

London: Higher consumption of sugary drinks may be associated with an increased risk of cancer, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

The findings add to growing evidence that limiting sugary drink consumption, together with taxation and marketing curbs, may contribute to a reduction in cancer cases.

The consumption of sugary drinks has increased worldwide during the last few decades and is convincingly associated with the risk of obesity, which in turn is recognised as a strong risk factor for many cancers, said researchers, including those from the University of Paris 13 in France.

Researchers set out to assess the associations between the consumption of sugary drinks (sugar sweetened beverages and 100 per cent fruit juices), artificially sweetened (diet) beverages, and risk of overall cancer, as well as breast, prostate, and bowel (colorectal) cancers.

The findings are based on 101,257 healthy French adults (21 per cent men; 79 per cent women) with an average age of 42 years.

Participants completed at least two 24-hour online validated dietary questionnaires, designed to measure usual intake of 3,300 food and beverage items and were followed up for a maximum of nine years. Daily consumption of sugary drinks and artificially sweetened (diet) beverages were calculated and first cases of cancer reported.