| The purpose of this study was to assess the impact that nutrition intervention had on the dietary risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in childhood cancer survivors using pre-existing, de-identified data from pre-and post- 3-day food records. The dietary risk factors assessed were: calories, fat (total fat, saturated fat, unsaturated fat), cholesterol, sugar (total sugar, added sugar), dietary fiber, and sodium. This study used a purposive sample comprised of 17 childhood cancer survivors. The statistics used were simple count, percentages, confidence intervals, and a paired t-test. The overall dietary intake of the childhood cancer survivors was suboptimal when compared to the dietary recommendations of the American Heart Association (AHA). Throughout the 10-week program, all participants exceeded the AHA recommendations for calories from saturated fat. For total fat, all of the participants that did not meet recommendations exceeded them. Dietary fiber intake was inadequate for all participants, both before and after nutrition intervention. Sodium was the sole dietary risk factor that significantly improved following nutrition intervention (p = 0.047). These results further demonstrate the need for effective nutrition intervention for childhood cancer survivors. The importance of proper nutrition for disease prevention should be considered when developing intervention programs for this population. Future research should strive to recruit more participants and integrate several different assessment tools and intervention delivery methods, such as individualized nutrition counseling. |
