Date of Award
12-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Legacy Department
Food, Nutrition, and Culinary Science
Committee Chair/Advisor
Katherine Cason
Committee Member
Elliot Jesch
Committee Member
Liwei Chen
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women and there are expected to be 1,665,540 new cases diagnosed in 2014. Advancements in early detection, have greatly improved treatment outcomes for the majority of these patients and the 5-year survival rate is 89.2%. The newly emerging field of survivorship care is an attempt to meet the unique needs of this expanding population. Research has demonstrated that an unhealthy body weight is an important modifiable risk factor for the recurrence of breast cancer. This study used an electronic version of the Block 2005 to collect dietary information on 30 breast cancer survivors presenting to a survivorship clinic for the first time. Key variables in The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 were used to evaluate the dietary habits of these patients. Interest in receiving remote nutrition interventions was assessed through a separate questionnaire. Results demonstrated that the majority of the sample was overweight and failed to meet the recommendations for the key dietary variables. The results from the nutrition interest survey indicated that the patients were interested in receiving nutrition information from the hospital and the preferred remote nutrition intervention was email communication. This data is important because it indicates that this population of breast cancer survivors could benefit from dietary changes and are interested in receiving nutrition information. Given the large number of breast cancer survivors, interest in email communication is an important step in reaching this growing group of cancer survivors. Future nutrition research with breast cancer survivors should focus on the feasibility of remote nutrition interventions in assisting these patients to attain and maintain a healthy body weight.
Recommended Citation
Stokes, Sherry A., "Dietary Behaviors and Nutrition Intervention Preferences of Breast Cancer Survivors" (2014). All Theses. 2301.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/2301