Sweets, fast food and fizzy drinks linked to bowel cancer for the first time

A diet high in sugar and fat has been linked to colorectal cancer Research show high-energy snack foods are a risk factor of disease

By Sara Malm

PUBLISHED: 12:18 EST, 14 July 2013 | UPDATED: 12:18 EST, 14 July 2013

Eating sweets, fast food and drinking fizzy drinks may lead to bowel cancer, a study has found.

Research show that high-energy snack foods are a risk factor of colorectal cancer - alongside a lack of exercise and smoking.

This is the first proof of a connection between the disease and a diet high in sugar and fat.

A research team examined more than 170 types of foods, including 'healthy options' such as vegetables and fish, and high sugar snacks such as chocolate and fruit drinks and fatty options like crisps.

As well as established risk factors of colorectal cancer - a family history of cancer, low exercise and tobacco, the team identified new ones.

Among them were a high intake of high-energy snacks and sugar-sweetened drinks.

The 'positive connection' found between diet and bowel cancer is the first proof of the popular theory.

The study, published in the latest edition of the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, builds on previous research into the link between bowel cancer and diet.

Dr Evropi Theodoratou from Edinburgh University's School of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences, who carried out the study said: 'What we have found is very interesting and it merits further investigation using large population studies.

'While the positive associations between a diet high in sugar and fat and colorectal cancer do not automatically imply "cause and effect", it is important to take on board what we've found - especially as people in industrialised countries are consuming more of these foods.'