Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study

Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals. Design: It is a cross-sectional study initiated from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINT). Setting: Relevant survey...

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Main Authors: Hemangi Mavadiya, Yunxia Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Public Health Nutrition
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025100505/type/journal_article
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author Hemangi Mavadiya
Yunxia Lu
author_facet Hemangi Mavadiya
Yunxia Lu
author_sort Hemangi Mavadiya
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals. Design: It is a cross-sectional study initiated from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINT). Setting: Relevant survey questions from different iterations of HINTS were harmonised. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were performed to identify differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours between the two groups. Participants: Participants in the study were drawn from the HINT survey with various variables including age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, marital status and BMI. Results: The analysis revealed no significant differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness or behaviours between cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals. Those dietary factors included red and processed meat, alcohol, fibre, sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits and vegetables. Specifically, 82 % of both survivors and non-survivors failed to meet the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommendations for daily fruit consumption (OR = 0·91; 95 % CI = 0·77, 1·06), and approximately 75 % did not meet the daily vegetable intake guidelines (OR = 0·96; 95 % CI = 0·83, 1·11). The findings suggest that a cancer diagnosis does not inherently lead to improved dietary awareness or healthier eating behaviours. Conclusion: The lack of improvement in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors indicated missed education opportunities. The ‘teachable moment’ of cancer diagnosis was not effectively utilised, which highlighted a need for stronger guidance from healthcare providers. This gap may also reflect barriers, including limited training, time constraints and limited interprofessional collaboration among health professionals in delivering targeted dietary advice.
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spelling doaj-art-d39348c0f12a4423bfcfd5cc8aed1adf2025-08-20T03:24:52ZengCambridge University PressPublic Health Nutrition1368-98001475-27272025-01-012810.1017/S1368980025100505Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS studyHemangi Mavadiya0Yunxia Lu1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1201-7729Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention, Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, University of California-Irvine, 856 Health Sciences Quad, Irvine, CA 92697, USADepartment of Population Health and Disease Prevention, Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, University of California-Irvine, 856 Health Sciences Quad, Irvine, CA 92697, USA Abstract Objective: This study aims to investigate diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals. Design: It is a cross-sectional study initiated from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINT). Setting: Relevant survey questions from different iterations of HINTS were harmonised. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were performed to identify differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours between the two groups. Participants: Participants in the study were drawn from the HINT survey with various variables including age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, marital status and BMI. Results: The analysis revealed no significant differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness or behaviours between cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals. Those dietary factors included red and processed meat, alcohol, fibre, sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits and vegetables. Specifically, 82 % of both survivors and non-survivors failed to meet the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommendations for daily fruit consumption (OR = 0·91; 95 % CI = 0·77, 1·06), and approximately 75 % did not meet the daily vegetable intake guidelines (OR = 0·96; 95 % CI = 0·83, 1·11). The findings suggest that a cancer diagnosis does not inherently lead to improved dietary awareness or healthier eating behaviours. Conclusion: The lack of improvement in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors indicated missed education opportunities. The ‘teachable moment’ of cancer diagnosis was not effectively utilised, which highlighted a need for stronger guidance from healthcare providers. This gap may also reflect barriers, including limited training, time constraints and limited interprofessional collaboration among health professionals in delivering targeted dietary advice. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025100505/type/journal_articleCancer survivorsDiet awarenessNutrition policyDietary behaviour
spellingShingle Hemangi Mavadiya
Yunxia Lu
Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
Public Health Nutrition
Cancer survivors
Diet awareness
Nutrition policy
Dietary behaviour
title Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
title_full Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
title_fullStr Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
title_full_unstemmed Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
title_short Diet-related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals: a pooled analysis of the HINTS study
title_sort diet related awareness and behaviours in cancer survivors compared with non cancer individuals a pooled analysis of the hints study
topic Cancer survivors
Diet awareness
Nutrition policy
Dietary behaviour
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1368980025100505/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT hemangimavadiya dietrelatedawarenessandbehavioursincancersurvivorscomparedwithnoncancerindividualsapooledanalysisofthehintsstudy
AT yunxialu dietrelatedawarenessandbehavioursincancersurvivorscomparedwithnoncancerindividualsapooledanalysisofthehintsstudy