Protein food avoidance behaviour among cancer patients - perspectives of nutrient intake and diet quality

Background and Objectives: Previous study reported that high proportion of Chinese cancer patients practise food avoidance behaviour for fear of cancer recurrence. The present study aims at documenting the degree of food avoidance behaviours and its association with nutrient intake and diet quality among Chinese cancer patients. Methods and Study Design: Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews were conducted with 245 patients suffering from nasopharyngeal and colorectal cancer to investigate their food avoidance behaviour. Participant's nutrient intake was assessed by 3-day diet record. Diet quality was measured by Diet Quality Index - International (DQ-II). Results: As many as 86% cancer participants reported practicing food avoidance behaviours. The nutrients to which less than half of the participants met its daily requirement include vitamin D (0%), vitamin E (0.4%), calcium (7.8%), zinc (26.1%) and vitamin B1 (32.2%). Among all participants, only 47.8% met their daily energy requirement. Those reported having high degree of food avoidance behaviours are more likely to have low intake of protein, zinc and iron. However, there was no association between FAB and overall diet quality although the Variety subscale of DQI-I showed that food avoidance behaviours negatively link to participant's dietary sources of protein. Conclusions: Degree of practicing food avoidance behaviour is negatively associated with nutrients of animal origin, in particular protein. However, the overall diet quality was not affected by such. The study results provided important information to frontline clinical workers who are dealing with cancer patients practising non-mainstream diet.