Results of a new study presented at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona suggest that obese children are at a higher risk of developing liver cancer.

A survey of more than 165,000 men and 160,000 women in Denmark showed that at the age of seven, the risk of developing a more common form of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma increased by 12 percent for every one-point increase in body mass index (BMI), Press TV reported.

The study also found that the risk further increased to 13 percent for those obese kids who reached the age of 13.

“Childhood obesity not only leads to the development of many adverse metabolic conditions -- such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease -- but also fatty liver disease, which may subsequently result in liver cancer,” said scientific committee member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, Dr. Frank Lammert.

“The importance of maintaining a healthy childhood BMI cannot be underestimated,” he added. “These alarming study results point to a potential correlation between childhood obesity and development of liver cancer in adulthood.”