SINGAPORE - Women who give birth to at least one child will have a 44 per cent lower risk of lung cancer, an National University of Singapore (NUS) study has found after analysing the records of more than 28,000 women.

In the nationwide study a total of 311 women developed lung cancer during the study period. More than 93 per cent of them were non smokers. Other reproductive factors, including age at menopause, reproductive period, age at first delivery, breastfeeding, oral contraceptives and hormone therapy, were not associated with risk.

Dr Tan Min-Han, who co-authored the study, said that, contrary to popular belief that lung cancer victims tend to be mostly smokers , eight out of 10 women who get lung cancer in Singapore, do not smoke.

He said: "In this large cohort study, having at least one child is associated with a substantial reduction in lung cancer risk for both smoking and non-smoking women.