Eating Habits, Physical Activity Practice and Clinical Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer Patients with Overweight/obesity

Abstract

Background and objectives: Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease associated with the development of several other diseases, including cancer. The present study aims to evaluate the eating habits, physical activity, and clinical profiles of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with overweight/obesity. Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted with data collected from the medical records of patients diagnosed with CRC (n = 41) from June 2019 to June 2022. Additionally, a questionnaire (n = 35) was applied to gather information on eating habits and physical activity. The data were subdivided into two groups of CRC patients: eutrophic and overweight/obesity. The results were presented as frequency distribution in percentage (%), mean ± standard deviation, or median and interquartile range.Results: All patients presented adenocarcinoma-type; most were in stages 3 and 4 and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. The overweight/obesity group showed a higher prevalence of metastasis, recurrence, and death compared to the eutrophic group. Ninety-six percent of patients demonstrated the need to reevaluate their eating habits, and the overweight/obesity group presented a significantly lower consumption of vegetables. Walking was the most commonly practiced physical activity both before and after diagnosis. However, both groups experienced a reduction in physical activity after CRC diagnosis, especially in the overweight/obesity group, in which both the frequency (p = 0.001) and duration of physical activity (p = 0.0005) significantly decreased.Conclusions: Overweight/obese individuals are associated with a worse clinical profile, which can be associated with unhealthy habits, low consumption of vegetables, and low physical activity.