New research suggests that cancer survivors in the US may need dietary interventions to improve their health.
The study showed that, overall, cancer survivors did not adhere to federal dietary guidelines as well as a matched control population.
Cancer survivors tended to consume more empty calories and less fiber than controls.
Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD, of Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and his colleagues reported these findings in Cancer.
The team evaluated the diets of 1533 adult cancer survivors who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2010. The investigators also assessed the diets of 3075 individuals who had no history of cancer and were matched to the cancer survivors by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
The goal was to determine how subjects’ diets aligned with advice from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was jointly issued by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cancer survivors had poor adherence to the guidelines, with a total Healthy Eating Index score of 47.2 out of 100, compared with a score of 48.3 in the adults without a history of cancer (P=0.03).
Cancer survivors had a significantly lower mean score for empty calories compared to the noncancer group—13.6 and 14.4, respectively (P=0.001). This suggested the cancer group had a higher consumption of calories from solid fats, alcohol, and added sugars.
Cancer survivors also had significantly lower dietary intake of fiber than the noncancer group—15.0 and 15.9 g per day, respectively (P=0.02).
Compared to recommended values, cancer survivors had low dietary intakes of vitamin D (31% of the recommended intake), vitamin E (47%), potassium (55%), and calcium (73%) but high intakes of saturated fat (112%) and sodium (133%).
The investigators noted that diet quality in cancer survivors increased linearly with age. The older the age, the better the diet quality.
Survivors with lower education (high school or less) had significantly worse diet quality than those with higher education. And survivors who were current smokers had significantly worse diet quality than non-smokers or former smokers.
For the 4 major cancer types in the US (breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal), breast cancer survivors had the best diet quality, and lung cancer survivors had the worst diet quality.
The investigators said that knowing how well cancer survivors adhere to federal dietary guidelines can help inform evidence-based priorities for improving their nutritional intake.
“Dietary changes that include more fiber, fruit, and vegetables in the diet and less fat, sodium, and added sugar would be important for cancer survivors,” Dr Zhang said.
“Oncology care providers can play critical roles in reinforcing the importance of a healthful diet and can refer patients to registered dietitians who are experts in oncology care or to other reputable sources in order to improve survivors’ overall health.”
