Poor diet quality and adverse eating behaviours in young survivors of
childhood cancer
Abstract
Background The long-term impact of childhood cancer treatment on dietary
intake is likely to be complex and the length of time dietary behaviours
are affected after childhood cancer treatment is unknown. Aim The aim of
this study was to determine the diet quality in childhood cancer
survivors recently off treatment and identify possible contributing
factors that may affect diet quality in this population. Methods
Participants were 65 parents and/or carers of childhood cancer survivors
(CCS) (aged 2-18 years), recently off treatment and 81 age-matched
controls. Methods Participants completed two self-administered dietary
intake and eating behaviour questionnaires. Study data was explored to
determine between group differences, bivariate analysis using Spearman’s
correlations was used to determine the relationship between diet quality
and identified variables, and hierarchical cluster analysis was
completed to characterise specific variables into clusters. Results CCS
had a significantly poorer diet quality score than the age-matched
controls (t=-2.226, p=0.028). Childhood cancer survivors had
significantly higher parent-reported rates of ‘picky eating’ behaviour
than the control group (t=0.106 p=0.044). Factors such as picky eating,
emotional overeating and Body Mass Index z-score appeared to drive diet
quality in survivors. Conclusions A CCS with picky eating behaviours
could avoid complete food groups, have strong food preferences/aversions
and over- consume high energy foods to maintain their energy intake,
possibly affecting diet quality. The outcomes highlighted the need for a
tailored intervention aimed at improving healthy eating behaviours in
CCS after treatment for cancer.