Adults who had been fed plenty of fruit when they were children are less likely to suffer from certain types of cancer, British scientists said on Wednesday.

A medical study of nearly 4,000 men and women showed that the more fruits the adults had eaten when they were young the less likely they were to suffer from lung, bowel and breast cancer.

"This study shows that childhood fruit consumption may have a long term protective effect on cancer risk in adulthood," Dr. Maria Maynard of the Medical Research Council in London said.

All of the adults in the study had filled in a food inventory during the 1930s for a research study looking into the eating habits of families in rural and urban areas of England and Scotland. Maynard and her colleagues studied the medical records of the group up to July 2000, by which time 483 cases of cancer had been diagnosed. In addition to fewer cases of cance, a high consumption of fruit was associated with a lower death rate from all causes.

Fruits are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and other nutrients, which can help to prevent genetic damage that can lead to the development of cancer.

The scientists also studied the impact of vitamins C, E and beta carotene on cancer but they did not find any evidence that individual antioxidants were as protective as fruit.

英国科学家19日研究发现：童年时多吃水果，长大以后患某些癌症的几率会被降低。

科学家对4千名男女进行了跟踪调查，发现童年时水果吃得越多，越不容易得肺癌、肠癌和乳腺癌。

伦敦医学研究会的玛利亚·梅纳德博士说："这一研究表明，孩提时代多食用水果将在成年以后产生长期的防癌作用。"

接受调查的所有人都曾在20世纪30年代填写过一份英格兰和苏格兰城市及农村家庭饮食状况的调查表。而梅纳德和她的同事对这些人进行了跟踪调查，发现到2000年6月，其中的483人被诊断患了癌症。研究人员发现：孩提时代摄入水果量越高的人越不容易得癌症，而患上癌症的人群中，水果摄入量高的，抗病的时间也越长。

水果富含抗氧化剂、维他命和其他营养成分，可以有效防止身体机能发生癌变。

科学家还研究了维生素C、维生素E和β胡萝卜素对癌症的抵抗作用，但他们没有找到任何证据显示单一的抗氧化剂能比水果更有效。