Diet among breast cancer survivors and healthy women. The Norwegian Women and Cancer Study.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the diet and lifestyle in breast cancer survivors and healthy women.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study in the population-based Norwegian Women and Cancer cohort study, using a postal questionnaire on diet, lifestyle and health.


METHODS
Nation-wide, population-based study.


METHODS
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.


METHODS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
Diet and lifestyle is generally similar between breast cancer survivors and healthy women, especially more than 5 years after diagnosis.
Institute for Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway. guri.skeie@ism.uit.no
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D013997:Time Factors; D014675:Vegetables