A Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Effectiveness of Coping with Cancer in the Kitchen, a Nutrition Education Program for Cancer Survivors

Abstract

Following a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruit, and beans may reduce cancer incidence and mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Coping with Cancer in the Kitchen (CCK), an 8 week in-person program offering education, culinary demonstrations and food tasting, and psychosocial group support, compared to receiving CCK printed materials by mail on knowledge, confidence, and skills in implementing a plant-based diet. A total of 54 adult cancer survivors were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 26) and control groups (n = 27) with assessments at baseline, 9, and 15 weeks via self-administered survey. The response rate was 91% at 9 weeks and 58% at 15 weeks. The majority of our study participants were female breast cancer survivors (58%) who had overweight or obesity (65%). Compared with the control, there were significant (p < 0.05) increases in intervention participants’ knowledge about a plant-based diet at weeks 9 and 15, reductions in perceived barriers to eating more fruits and vegetables at week 9, and enhanced confidence and skills in preparing a plant-based diet at week 15. There was a significant reduction in processed meat intake but changes in other food groups and psychosocial measures were modest. Participation in CCK in person increased knowledge, skills, and confidence and reduced barriers to adopting a plant-based diet. Positive trends in intake of plant-based foods and quality of life warrant further investigation in larger-scale studies and diverse populations.

Unraveling Barriers to a Healthy Lifestyle: Understanding Barriers to Diet and Physical Activity in Patients with Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases

“…Gender-related differences. Excepting from the work of Clark-Cutaia et al [38] in which women represent 37% of the studied population with a limited cohort not letting a deep comparison between male and female, in all the other examined studies the majority of the involved population is composed by women (100% in Bernard-Davila et al [39] consisting in breast cancer Hispanic survivors; in Mofleh et al [41], 97.7% of a population of educators from USA; 87% in Mendonça et al [40] from the Health Academy Program in Brazil; 58% in Miller et al [37] consisting in breast cancer survivors). Among women, as a synthetic result of all the analyzed studies, differences in the encountered barriers are especially linked to own's body perception, grade of education, being employed, need to take care of families, and economic concerns.…”

“…In her work, Spanish monolingualism is one of the main determinants of lack of enrollment in the protocol together with being unemployed and considering the study cost-consuming. Ethnicity seems to not represent a statistically significant element in terms of adherence to a nutritional intervention with or without in-person counseling in Miller et al [37]. In Mofleh et al [41], being white or not does not represent a statistically significant condition for food insecurity in a population of educators from Pennsylvania.…”

How quality of life is measured in studies of nutritional intervention: a systematic review

“…surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and endocrine treatment) [ 129 ] 1 [ 119 ] EORTC-QLQ-PAN26 Pancreatic cancer EORTC questionnaire module used with the EORTC-QLQ-C30 to assess QoL in patients with pancreatic cancer. Includes 26 items related to disease symptoms, treatment side-effects and emotional issues specific to pancreatic cancer [ 129 ] 1 [ 124 ] FACT-G Cancer Questionnaire designed to measure four domains of HRQOL in cancer patients: Physical, social, emotional, and functional well-being [ 130 ] 2 [ 46 , 131 ] FACT-G7 Cancer The FACT-G7 (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General 7 item) is a shortened version of the FACT-G questionnaire [ 132 ] 1 [ 133 ] FAACT Anorexia and Cachexia by Cancer QoL questionnaire for both cancer and HIV-infected patients with anorexia/cachexia [ 134 ] 1 [ 135 ] FACT-B Cancer (Breast) Self-report instrument designed to measure QoL in patients with breast cancer. The FACT-B consists of the FACT-General (FACT-G) plus specific concerns related to breast cancer) [ 136 ] 1 [ 131 ] FACT-C Cancer (colorectal) Self-report instrument designed to measure QoL in patients with colorectal cancer.…”

A Teaching Kitchen Program Improves Employee Micronutrient and Healthy Dietary Consumption

“…This is in line with prior studies that have reported improved diet quality in participants following participation in teaching kitchen programs. [9][10][11] Razavi et al reported a significant increase in Mediterranean diet score in families following a 6-week Mediterranean diet-focused, randomized teaching kitchen intervention. 11 Dexter et al reported a significant increase in the number of overweight and obese veterans who reported consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, liquid oils, and trans-fat free products following 5-weeks of a teaching kitchen program.…”

“…8 Several studies that have reported improved diet quality in participants following participation in teaching kitchen programs. [9][10][11] However, most previous literature on teaching kitchens measure nutrition-related outcomes through nutrition knowledge, cooking behavior, and eating habit questionnaires. Few have used validated nutritional intake methods to quantify nutrient intake and compare with national dietary recommendations and guidelines.…”