High consumption of fruit as a child might cut the risk of developing cancer later in life by as much as a third, according to a study that looked at the health records of nearly 3,900 people aged over 60.

Information on the subjects' childhood diet was based on records in 16 areas in England and Scotland between 1937 and 1939. Notifications of deaths and cancer were checked in records to the end of July 2000.

Allowing for other factors, those who ate the most fruit had two-thirds the risk of cancer of those who ate the least. The benefit was smaller when it came to cancer deaths.

There is less evidence of benefit from high vegetable consumption when young. The study, in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggests that the lengthy boiling of vegetables in the 1930s might limit the gain.