Organised By
Organised By
1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia
2Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia
3CSIRO Food and Nutrition Flagship, Adelaide, South Australia
Email: zalina@upm.edu.my
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a highly preventable and yet commonly occurring cancer throughout the world with the highest prevalence in developed countries, and is increasing rapidly in some developing countries such as Malaysia. Key diet and lifestyle (D&L) factors can modulate the risk of developing CRC. Obesity, abdominal fatness, high intakes of red and processed meat and smoking increase CRC risk, whereas higher physical activity (PA) participation and fibre-rich foods reduce the risk. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of D&L risk factors in CRC and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients.
RESULTS: In this study, CRC participants (n = 14) had a higher risk profile compared to IBD (n = 30) (e.g., 80 vs. 30% overweight/obese; 30 vs. 70% sufficiently active). Total knowledge of 15 risk factors was low (47% correct); 60% agreed they were important; and only 11% and 27% had made changes to PA and diet respectively in response to CRC risk. Those with IBD had greater awareness of the role of obesity and higher fibre diets than CRC participants and 50% of the total group (IBD and CRC) wanted more D&L information.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of D&L risk factors was high, knowledge was poor, and risk-mitigating behaviours not widely adopted among CRC participants and those at high risk of CRC. More information on D&L risk factors should be provided and tailored to different sub-groups.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer, Diet and Lifestyle factor