Mega Doctor News
By University of California, Irvine
Newswise – Researchers from the UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health found that a cancer diagnosis did not improve a survivors’ diet or created healthier eating habits. The study shows informational deficits during cancer diagnosis treatment planning and a lack of guidance from healthcare providers.
Findings are published in the journal Public Health Nutrition’s June issue.
Researchers suggest that the gap may also reflect barriers, including limited training, time constraints and limited interprofessional collaboration among health professionals in delivering targeted dietary advice.
The number of cancer survivors in the United States is projected to reach 26 million by 2040. As living with cancer becomes more common, there is a need to study the lifestyle of cancer survivors, particularly regarding how a healthy lifestyle can enhance survival and improve quality of life.
Led by corresponding author Yunxia Lu, professor of population health and disease prevention at Wen Public Health, the team set out to understand the differences in diet-related awareness of cancer risk and diet-related behaviors among cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals using the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a data collection program operated by the National Cancer Institute.
“We found that there was a gap in the literature in diet-related cancer risk awareness or behaviors between cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals,” Lu said. “We wanted to better understand how survivors were approaching their lifestyle and nutrition choices post-diagnosis and treatment and if their cancer journey did anything to improve this area of their lives.”
Using a publicly available dataset from HINTS spanning from 2003 to 2022, the data was based on questionaries about diet-related cancer risk awareness, e.g. consuming processed meat, red meat, fruit and vegetables, dietary fiber, alcohol consumption and soda or sugar-sweetened drinks. A second set of questions covered dietary behaviors related to the amount of fruit, vegetables, soda drinks, and alcohol being consumed, for example.
Based on their analysis, they found that there were no significant differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviors between survivors and non-survivors. Approximately 82% of both cancer survivors and non-survivors failed to meet the American Cancer Society’ recommendations of consuming more than two to three cups of fruits per day and 75% failed to meet the recommendations for vegetables.
“Cancer treatment specialists view a cancer diagnosis as a ‘teachable moment’ that increases openness to adopting a healthy lifestyle,” said first author Hemangi Mavadiya, doctoral candidate at Wen Public Health. “However, this study shows that there is a critical need for targeted dietary and behavioral interventions for the survivors and that education from provider to survivor is insufficient.”
The researchers said that more studies need to be done to assess dietary awareness and behaviors before and after cancer diagnoses as they would provide stronger evidence regarding practice and policy suggestions.
“Our study also shows us that there is a critical need for targeted and feasible dietary interventions tailored to the distinctive challenges faced by the vulnerable population and that healthcare professionals should integrate culturally sensitive nutritional education and counseling services into routine survivorship care, which may help cancer survivors adopt and maintain healthy dietary behaviors,” Lu added.
