Knowledge of and adherence to fruit and vegetable recommendations and intakes: results of the 2003 health information national trends survey.

Attention to cancer-relevant communication (e.g., fruit/vegetable intake recommendations) through various media has been shown to be a pivotal step in reduction of the cancer burden, thus underscoring the importance of examining associations between exposure to health media and knowledge of and adherence to fruit/vegetable intake recommendations. The purpose of the present study was to assess factors associated with fruit/vegetable intake knowledge and behavior. The authors analyzed data collected from the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey to evaluate the effect of fruit/vegetable intake knowledge on behavior, and the relationship of this effect with biobehavioral, sociodemographic, and communication characteristics. Participants who were knowledgeable of fruit/vegetable intake recommendations and consumed at least 5 fruit/vegetable servings per day were classified as informed compliers. Associations were observed for being an informed complier and paying "a lot" of attention to health media on the radio, in the newspaper, and in magazines and "a little" or "some" attention to health media in magazines or on the Internet. The recent explosion of available cancer-related information through various media underscores the importance of examining associations between exposure to health media and knowledge of and adherence to fruit/vegetable intake recommendations.

Body mass index, height, and postmenopausal breast cancer mortality in a prospective cohort of US women.

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiologic evidence suggests a positive association between body mass, adult height, and postmenopausal breast cancer. However, most studies have not been large enough to examine the association across a very wide range of body mass or height, and few studies have assessed the relationship between body mass or height and postmenopausal breast cancer mortality. METHODS: The relation between body mass index (BMI) and height and postmenopausal breast cancer mortality was examined in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II), a large prospective mortality study of US adults enrolled in 1982. After 14 years of follow-up, 2852 breast cancer deaths were observed among 424,168 postmenopausal women who were cancer-free at interview. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to estimate relative risks and to control for potential confounding. RESULTS: Breast cancer mortality rates increased continually and substantially with increasing BMI (rate ratio (RR) = 3.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.09-4.51 for BMI > 40.0 compared to BMI 18.5-20.49). If causal, the multivariate-adjusted RR estimates in this study correspond to approximately 30-50% of breast cancer deaths among postmenopausal women in the US population being attributable to overweight. Breast cancer mortality also increased with increasing height up to 66 inches with RR= 1.64, (95% CI = 1.23-2.18) in women 66 inches tall compared to those <60 inches. CONCLUSIONS: Postmenopausal obesity is an important and potentially avoidable predictor of fatal breast cancer in this study. These results underscore the importance of maintaining moderate weight throughout adult life.