This study aims to investigate diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors compared with non-cancer individuals.

It is a cross-sectional study initiated from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINT).

Relevant survey questions from different iterations of HINTS were harmonised. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were performed to identify differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours between the two groups.

Participants in the study were drawn from the HINT survey with various variables including age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, marital status and BMI.

The analysis revealed no significant differences in diet-related cancer risk awareness or behaviours between cancer survivors and non-cancer individuals. Those dietary factors included red and processed meat, alcohol, fibre, sugar-sweetened beverages, fruits and vegetables. Specifically, 82 % of both survivors and non-survivors failed to meet the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommendations for daily fruit consumption (OR = 0·91; 95 % CI = 0·77, 1·06), and approximately 75 % did not meet the daily vegetable intake guidelines (OR = 0·96; 95 % CI = 0·83, 1·11). The findings suggest that a cancer diagnosis does not inherently lead to improved dietary awareness or healthier eating behaviours.

The lack of improvement in diet-related cancer risk awareness and behaviours among cancer survivors indicated missed education opportunities. The ‘teachable moment’ of cancer diagnosis was not effectively utilised, which highlighted a need for stronger guidance from healthcare providers. This gap may also reflect barriers, including limited training, time constraints and limited interprofessional collaboration among health professionals in delivering targeted dietary advice.