A study has found that cancer survivors generally have better-quality diets than the general population, but survivors diagnosed with cancer at a younger age tend to have poorer diets as they grow older.
A research team led by Baek Soo-ah, a professor of family medicine at Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, and Bae Woo-kyung, a professor of family medicine at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, published the findings recently in the international journal Nutrients, the researchers said Sept. 23.
The team analyzed data from the 2019-2021 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving 8,706 adults age 30 and older, including 641 cancer survivors and 8,065 people without a history of cancer.
The researchers compared diet quality between cancer survivors and the general population using the Healthy Eating Index, an internationally standardized measure of diet quality.
They also divided cancer survivors into two groups based on their age at diagnosis — those diagnosed before age 50 and those diagnosed at age 50 or older — and analyzed changes in diet quality according to their current age.
The results showed that cancer survivors had an average diet quality score of 69.1, which was 3 points higher than the 66.1 score among the general population.
However, a different pattern emerged among survivors diagnosed with cancer before age 50.
Among those currently younger than 65, diet quality was 3 points higher than that of the general population, but among those age 65 or older, it was 3.2 points lower.
By contrast, cancer survivors diagnosed after age 50 had diet quality scores 3.76 points higher than the general population across all age groups, regardless of their current age.
The researchers interpreted the findings as indicating that cancer survivors generally pay greater attention to managing their diets as their focus on health increases during treatment.
However, they said the findings also suggest that among people diagnosed with cancer at a younger age, healthy eating habits may not be sustained as the length of survivorship increases, highlighting the importance of long-term management.
The researchers said dietary habits should be regularly reviewed even after cancer treatment ends, taking into account age, length of survivorship and changes in living circumstances.
Baek said, “This study shows that patients diagnosed with cancer at a younger age need continued attention and support to help them maintain healthy eating habits as time passes.”
She added, “Because cancer survivors face higher risks than the general population of developing chronic diseases, including second primary cancers, personalized nutritional counseling and regular dietary assessments that take age at diagnosis and length of survivorship into account are needed.”
