Change in women's diet and body mass following intensive intervention for early-stage breast cancer

Objective To determine the effectiveness of an intensive dietary interventi on on diet and body mass in women with breast cancer. Design Randomized clinical trial. Subjects 172 women aged 20 to 65 years with stage I or Il breast cancer. Intervention A 15-session, mainly group-based and dietitian-led nutrition e ducation program (NEP) was compared to a mindfulness-based stress reduction clinic program (SRC): or usual supportive care (UC). Main outcome measures Dietary fat, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and body m ass were measured. Statistical analysis In addition to descriptive statistics, analysis of var iance was conducted to test for differences according to intervention group . Results Of the 157 women with complete dietary data at baseline, 149 had co mplete data immediately postintervention (at 4 months) and 146 had complete data at I year. Women randomized to NEP (n=50) experienced a large reducti on in fat consumption (5.8% of energy as fat) at 4 months and much of this reduction was preserved at 1 year (4.1% of energy) (both P < .0002) vs no c hange in either SRC (n=51) or UC (n=56). A 1.3-kg reduction in body mass wa s evident at 4 months in the NEP group (P=.003) vs no change in the SRC and UC groups. Women who had higher-than-average expectations of a beneficial effect of the intervention experienced larger changes. Applications Dietitians' use of group nutrition interventions appear to be warranted. Increasing their effectiveness and maintaining high levels of ad herence may require additional support, including the involvement of signif icant others, periodic individual meetings, or group booster sessions.