14 DAY TRIAL // Children who regularly drink school milk, significantly reduce their risk of developing bowel cancer when they grow up, a new study conducted by scientists at the University of Otago concluded.
The national study carried out in New Zealand, found that the risk of bowel cancer was 30% lower in people who drank school milk daily, and the reduction was even higher for those who drank 1200 or more half-pint bottles of milk while at school.
The researchers think that the calcium provided by the free milk-in-schools program from 1937 to 1967 could be responsible for the dramatic decrease in risk of bowel cancer, in people born between 1938 and 1953.
Previous studies involving adults, have concluded that calcium could reduce bowel cancer risks, but very few studies focused on calcium intake during childhood.
This study focused on obtaining information from people who were newly diagnosed with bowel cancer, and those of similar age but without the condition, selected from the general electoral register.
When asked about drinking milk when at school, the responses matched the historical reports of participation, and some people even remembered the unpleasant occasion when the milk was warm and 'yucky'.
Associate Professor Brian Cox, of the Hugh Adam Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine of the Dunedin School of Medicine at the University of Otago, said that “the results of this study, if confirmed, would provide a means of reducing the very high rates of bowel cancer in New Zealand.
“The study should encourage a greater focus on factors in childhood that affect the risk of bowel cancer and health overall,” he suggested.
“The research team is currently planning further research which, if funding can be obtained, could confirm that the provision of milk at school can significantly reduce the risk of bowel cancer in future generations.”
Professor Cox conducted this study along with Dr Mary Jane Sneyd of the Hugh Adam Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine of the Dunedin School of Medicine at the University of Otago, with funding from the Director’s Cancer Research Trust.
The Genesis Oncology Trust and the Dean’s Bequest Funds of the Dunedin School of Medicine, provided grants-in-aid for the study, which was just published in the American Journal of Epidemiology School Milk and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A National Case-Control Study.