patient and her father
Credit: Rhoda Baer
Following a healthy lifestyle can decrease the risk of metabolic syndrome in childhood cancer survivors, according to a study published in Cancer.
Unfortunately, only about a quarter of the survivors studied actually practiced healthy lifestyle habits, such as engaging in moderate physical activity; eating the recommended daily serving of fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates; and consuming red meat, alcohol, and sodium in moderation.
Childhood cancer survivors are known to have an increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome.
The syndrome is actually a number of conditions—high blood pressure, increased body fat, and abnormal cholesterol and glucose levels—that, when they occur together, increase a person’s risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Kirsten Ness, PhD, of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and her colleagues wanted to determine if lifestyle habits might affect the risk of metabolic syndrome among childhood cancer survivors.
So the team analyzed 1598 survivors who were cancer-free for at least 10 years. They had a median age of 32.7 years (range, 18.9 to 60).
The analysis showed that failure to follow healthy lifestyle guidelines roughly doubled the survivors’ risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Women had a 2.4-times greater risk, and men had a 2.2-times greater risk of the syndrome if they did not follow the guidelines.
Metabolic syndrome was present in 31.8% of the participants—32.5% of males and 31% of females.
The researchers considered a subject to have metabolic syndrome if he had or received treatment for 3 or more of the following:
- Abdominal obesity (waist circumference of > 102 cm in males and > 88 cm in females)
- Triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL
- High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (< 40 mg/dL in males and < 50 mg/dL in females)
- Hypertension (systolic pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or diastolic pressure ≥ 85 mm Hg)
- Fasting plasma glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL.
Questionnaires and tests helped the researchers assess whether participants followed healthy lifestyle recommendations issued by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research.
The recommendations include:
- Having a body mass index of 25 or lower
- Engaging in moderate physical activity for 150 minutes each week
- Eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day
- Consuming 400 g or more of complex carbohydrates daily
- Eating less than 80 g of red meat each day
- Consuming less than 2400 mg of sodium each day
- Low daily alcohol consumption (less than 14 g for females and less than 28 g for males).
Subjects who met at least 4 of these 7 criteria were classified as following the guidelines. And 27% of the participants—25.2% of males and 28.8% of females—were classified as such.
“These findings are important because they indicate that adults who were treated for cancer as children have the opportunity to influence their own health outcomes,” Dr Ness said.
“[A]dopting a lifestyle that includes maintaining a healthy body weight, regular physical activity, and a diet that includes fruits and vegetables and that limits refined sugars, excessive alcohol, red meat, and salt has potential to prevent development of metabolic syndrome.”
