Diet among breast cancer survivors and healthy women. The Norwegian Women and Cancer Study

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 60; no. 9; pp. 1046 - 1054
• Main Authors: Skeie, G, Hjartaker, A, Lund, E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing 01.09.2006; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis of Variance; Ascorbic acid; Biological and medical sciences; Breast cancer; breast neoplasms; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Cohort Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnosis; Diet; Diet Surveys; Dietary supplements; Dietary Supplements - utilization; Disaccharides; Feeding Behavior - psychology; Female; Folic acid; Fruit; Fruits; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Health Status; Humans; Life Style; lifestyle; Lifestyles; Mammary gland diseases; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Middle Aged; Norway; Norwegian Women and Cancer Study; Nutrients; Physical activity; plant-based foods; Population studies; questionnaires; Rehabilitation; Survival; Survivor; Time Factors; Tumors; Variance analysis; Vegetables; Women; Womens health; Norway; Europe; Human; Nutrition; Survivor; Breast cancer; Malignant tumor; Feeding; lifestyle; Mammary gland diseases; Diet; Norway; survivors; Female; Mammary gland; Woman; Life style
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602416

Objective: To compare the diet and lifestyle in breast cancer survivors and healthy women. Design: Cross-sectional study in the population-based Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort study, using a postal questionnaire on diet, lifestyle and health. Setting: Nation-wide, population-based study. Subjects: Women aged 41-70 years. Prevalent breast cancer cases (314 short-term with 1-5 years since diagnosis, 352 long-term with >5 years since diagnosis) were identified by linkage to the Norwegian Cancer Registry. The comparison group consisted of 54 314 women. Interventions: Analyses of variance, with post hoc Bonferroni tests when significant differences were found. Results: Overall there were few differences in the diet of the three groups. Short-term survivors ate more fruits and vegetables than healthy women (P<0.0001), and consumed more of nutrients associated with fruit and vegetables (fibre, mono- and disaccharides, folate, vitamin C and potassium). Short-term breast cancer survivors also had a higher use of dietary supplements and a lower level of physical activity, but did not differ from healthy women on other lifestyle factors. The long-time survivors did not differ from any of the other groups. Conclusion: Diet and lifestyle is generally similar between breast cancer survivors and healthy women, especially more than 5 years after diagnosis.