Abstract
Cancer survivors are encouraged to have a healthy lifestyle to reduce health risks and improve survival. An understanding of health behaviors, such as diet, is also important for informing post-diagnosis support. We investigated the diet quality of cancer survivors relative to participants without cancer, overall and by cancer site and time from diagnosis. A cross-sectional study design within the Atlantic PATH study was used which included 19,973 participants aged 35 to 69 years from Atlantic Canada, of whom 1,930 were cancer survivors. A diet quality score was derived from a food frequency questionnaire. Comparisons of diet quality between cancer survivors and non-cancer controls, cancer site and years since diagnosis were examined in multivariable multi-level models. Cancer survivors had a mean diet quality of 39.1 out of 60 (SD: 8.82) and a higher diet quality than participants without cancer (mean difference: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.84) after adjustment for confounders. Odds of high diet quality was greater in breast cancer survivors than participants without cancer (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.90), and higher among survivors diagnosed ≤2 years versus >10 years (OR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.80). No other differences by cancer site and years since diagnosis were observed. The difference in diet quality, although statistically significant, is unlikely to be meaningful, suggesting that cancer survivors have similar diet quality as participants without cancer. There was considerable room for dietary improvement regardless of cancer status, highlighting the need for dietary interventions, especially among cancer survivors, who are at higher risk for secondary health problems.
Highlights
Cancer survival has improved over the past decades due to early detection and advances in treatment [1]
Findings suggest that cancer survivors have a slightly better diet quality than participants without cancer when diet quality is considered as a continuous measure, the difference of 0.45 units out of 60 is small and unlikely to have a health-related impact
We suggest that there is no meaningful difference in diet quality between cancer survivors and participants without cancer
Summary
Cancer survival has improved over the past decades due to early detection and advances in treatment [1]. Lifestyle changes including healthy eating are associated with reduced risk of comorbidities and improved survival after cancer diagnosis [8,9,10]. Health organizations such as the World Cancer. Similar findings were observed in a large study that examined fruit and vegetable intake of prostate cancer survivors [19]. A study of 1550 cancer survivors and 3100 controls reported a significantly lower Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010 score in cancer survivors the difference was small (1.1/100 points) and became non-significant after adjustment for smoking status [25]. Additional aims were to examine how cancer survivors’ diet quality varies by cancer site and years since diagnosis
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
