Cancer

Cancer Survivors Often Have Poor Diets

Cancer survivors often do poorly in following federal dietary guidelines, consuming less fiber and more empty calories than people without a history of cancer, according to a recent study.

Not getting enough fiber and having too many empty calories are established risk factors for many chronic health conditions.
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“It is therefore imperative to raise awareness and provide support to improve diet quality in the growing population of cancer survivors,” said lead author Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD, of Tufts University in Boston. “Cancer diagnosis can be a ‘teachable moment’ for patients to make positive behavioral changes including diet. Many cancer survivors are highly motivated to seek information about food choices and dietary changes to improve their health. It is remarkable that cancer survivors are still burdened by suboptimal dietary intake.”

Among the major findings:

  • Cancer survivors scored lower than adults without a history of cancer on the Healthy Eating Index (47.2 vs 48.3), with particularly worse adherence to recommendations regarding green vegetable intake.
  • In relation to recommended intake, survivors' mean dietary intake of vitamin D was 31%, vitamin E was 47%, potassium was 55%, fiber was 60%, and calcium was 73%
  • Survivors who smoke had significantly worse diet quality than nonsmokers.

Zhang believes poor diet in cancer survivors may be due to various factors. Cancer treatment may cause food cravings and/or changes in taste preferences. Such an impact could persist beyond the treatment’s completion, making it difficult for survivors to adhere to a healthy diet. A high level of emotional distress during and after treatment also might negatively impact survivors’ eating patterns. In addition, patients may have a suboptimal intake at the time of diagnosis and continue to practice poor eating habits as survivors.

“It is important to note that cancer survivors have significantly higher chronic disease burden than the general population,” she says. “Improving diet quality can be a particularly important focus for cancer survivors to achieve.”

Zhang plans to continue her research by identifying ways to deliver nutrition interventions to patients early in cancer care to prevent long-term health problems. She’s currently studying how dietary intake is associated with treatment exposure and chronic health conditions in childhood cancer survivors.

-Mike Bederka

Reference:

Zhang FF, Liu S, John E, Must A, Demark-Wahnefried W. Diet quality of cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals: Results from a national survey. CANCER. 2015 October [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1002/cncr.29488.