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You may think that if someone has survived cancer, they’d work at living a healthier lifestyle to reduce the risk of illnesses, but this isn’t always true, say researchers.
According to a study published in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Cancer ,
A new study finds that most older long-term cancer survivors who are interested in diet and exercise actually have poor health habits. The study also reveals that those survivors who do exercise and watch their diet have improved physical health and quality of life.
Researchers studied 753 cancer survivors who were 65 years old or older. The results may be surprising to many people:
- The majority of the study subjects only had 10 minutes or so of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week.
- Only 7% were found to eat healthy diets, as outlined by national guidelines
Considering that statistics show there are over 11 million senior cancer survivors in the United States, that’s a lot of people who are not helping their own health, making this an important issue.
It would be interesting to see if there is a breakdown of different types of cancers and the lifestyle changes in senior years. For example, a study was done in 2006 (Breast cancer survivors change lifestyle after diagnosis ) where researchers found that women who had breast cancer and who believed that it was caused by a specific lifestyle issue, such as diet, were likely to change that behavior.
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