April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: Testing the Influence of Family Cancer History on Cancer Related Beliefs and Vegetable/Fruit Intake among Low Income Populations
Background: Consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced risks for various chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. According to current guidelines adults need to eat at least 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables per day to keep a healthy diet (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). These guidelines are associated with lesser morbidity and mortality rates. However, individuals with lower income have a significantly lesser intake of fruits and vegetables than these recommended quantities. Past research suggests that knowledge about one’s family disease history motivates individuals to engage in a variety of preventive behaviors such as increased physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, and adherence to mammography screening. However, not much is known whether knowing family history would influence fruit and vegetable intake among low-income groups. Hence, increasing our understanding of the salient beliefs and behaviors that determine their fruit and vegetable intake behaviors will aid in explaining their food choices. Objective: This study aims to (1) examine the association of cancer information seeking and fatalistic beliefs (pessimism, helplessness, and confusion) with cancer causal beliefs (behavior) and vegetable and fruit intake among low-income populations (2) investigate whether knowing about one’s family cancer history affects these relationships. Methods: The above-mentioned relationships were tested using a sample of 3865 adult participants from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 5, Cycle 3, 2019) utilizing multivariate hierarchical linear regression models to examine the dependent variables of cancer causal beliefs and fruit and vegetable intake. Since the study focuses on low-income populations, analyses were based on 1518 participants with a household income of < $35,000. Results: The results indicate that individuals with family cancer history had significantly higher cancer causal beliefs attributed to controllable lifestyle behaviors (β = .45, p = .0005) and were more likely to consume more servings of vegetables and fruits (β = 1.46, p = .02). Fatalistic beliefs (helplessness) (β = 0.25, p = .008), and cancer causal beliefs attributed to lifestyle behaviors (β = .26, p = .04) also significantly predicted participants’ vegetable and fruit intake. Cancer information seeking was not associated with participants’ fruit and vegetable intake (β = .02, p = .92). As predicted, significant interactions were found in Model 1 between family cancer history and fatalistic beliefs (helplessness) in predicting cancer causal beliefs. The results indicated that individuals with family cancer history led to higher cancer causal beliefs attributed to lifestyle behaviors by reducing the influence of fatalistic beliefs. Additionally, in Model 2 interactions between family cancer history and cancer causal beliefs in predicting vegetable and fruit intake were significant. These results suggest that cancer causal beliefs attributed to lifestyle behaviors significantly increased fruit and vegetable intake among those with family cancer history. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that adopting segmentation of individuals based on their family cancer history may inform tailored interventions and designing health messages to improve regular vegetable and fruit consumption among low-income populations.