ASPO Abstracts

Dietary Intakes among Heavy vs. Light Smokers from the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Cohort

Authors: Virk-Baker MK, Weinstein S, Parascandola M, Albanes D.

Category: Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention
Conference Year: 2020

Abstract Body:
Background: Smokers tend to have less adequate diet as compared to non-smokers. Less is known about dietary differences between light vs. heavy smokers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate dietary intake by the level of smoking. Methods: We evaluated dietary intake among light vs. heavy smokers in Finnish male smokers, aged 50 - 69 years, in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention (ATBC) Study. Out of 27,111 participants, 17,300 (63.8%) reported smoking ≥ 20 cigarettes/day and were classified as heavy-smokers, and 9,811 (36.2%) reported smoking ˂ 20 cigarettes/day and were classified as light-smokers. Results: Baseline mean serum alpha-tocopherol (11.86 ± 0.03 vs. 12.13 ± 0.04 mg/l; p ˂ 0.00001) and beta-carotene (201.90 ± 1.38 vs. 233.48 ± 1.93 ug/l; p ˂ 0.00001) were significantly lower among heavy-smokers. Intakes of cereal (212.13 ± 0.67 vs. 221.78 ± 0.84 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001), vegetables (110.91 ± 0.54 vs. 118.29 ± 0.71 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001), fruits (209.91 ± 1.48 vs. 232.44 ± 1.98 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001), and total dietary fiber (18.44 ± 19.29 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001) were significantly lower among heavy-smokers as compared to light-smokers. However, intakes of red meat (73.14 ± 0.27 vs. 68.04 ± 0.32 g/day; p ˂0.00001), processed meat (78.10 ± 0.47 vs. 69.44 ± 0.54 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001), dairy products (737.23 ± 3.06 vs. 719.42 ± 3.74 g/day; p ˂ 0.0001), coffee (640.56 ± 2.80 vs. 549.23 ± 3.13 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001), and alcohol (20.55 ± 0.18 vs. 13.50 g/day; p ˂ 0.00001) were significantly higher among heavy-smokers as compared to light- smokers. Conclusions: Dietary intake vary significantly by the level of smoking and heavy-smokers have poorer intakes as compared to light-smokers. The observed dietary differences have important implications for cancer prevention and control efforts, suggesting a need to incorporate dietary components into tobacco cessation interventions. Funding: This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH and the National Cancer Institute. Additionally, this research was supported by U.S. Public Health Service contracts N01-CN-45165, N01-RC-45035, N01-RC-37004, HHSN261201000006C, and HHSN261201500005C from the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services.

Keywords: Tobacco, Diet, Epidemiology, Cancer Prevention