Do tall women have a greater chance of developing breast cancer? And does diet early in life have a role in that risk? While the answer for white women is not clear, a recent report in Cancer Causes and Control (Vol. 12, No. 4: 343-348) suggests that for black women the answer to both questions is “yes.”

Julie Palmer, ScD, and colleagues from the Slone Epidemiology Unit at Boston University School of Medicine and the Howard University Cancer Center in Washington, D.C., looked at this question based on the findings of other studies of African-American women born between 1910 and 1946. During this time, many of the women may have been nutritionally deprived.

One theory, according to the authors, is that poor diet results in shorter height. And, using height as a marker of early diet, if some women in the group were taller, this would show the relationship between height and breast cancer. Poor diet has been a more of a problem for African-American women than for white women.

Researchers looked at data from the Black Women’s Health Study. This is a large, ongoing study following black women in the US ages 21 to 69. They reviewed the histories of 910 women with breast cancer and compared them to 4,535 women who had not developed breast cancer. They considered a number of factors, including height.

The researchers found that women born between 1920 and 1929 were shorter than women born between 1960 and 70. But, most important, for women who were five feet 10 inches tall or taller, the risk of developing breast cancer was 60% greater than women who were five feet two inches or shorter.

Another surprising factor was that, among women with less than 16 years of education, the taller women had twice the risk of developing breast cancer than the shortest group. For tall women who had 16 or more years of education, the increased risk was less — 30%.

When examining the association by menopausal status, only premenopausal women were found to have an increased risk when comparing the tallest and shortest groups. For postmenopausal women, there was no significantly increased risk related to height.

The authors’ theory was that “shorter women may have a reduced incidence of breast cancer due to nutritional deprivation at a key period of life.” Studies looking at other groups who may have had similar experiences, such as Europeans who may have had poor diets deprived during World War II, have provided similar evidence that height and breast cancer risk are associated.

This study adds to the evidence that adequate diet in childhood and puberty is important in later development. However, it also may increase risk of developing breast cancer, particularly in women who are in lower socioeconomic groups and who may have fewer years of education.