Ji-Sun Seo1, Hyun-Ah Park1, Jae-Heon Kang1, Kyoung-Woo Kim1, Young-Gyu Cho1, Yang-Im Hur2, Yeo-Rin Park1

1Department of Family Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, 2Department of Public Health and Healthcare Management, Inje Institute of Advanced Studies, Seoul, Korea


Background: Obesity not only does increase the incidence of breast cancer, but also affects the course of treatment, recurrence and mortality. This study aims to evaluate on the obesity status of Korean breast cancer survivors and their obesity-related lifestyles.
Methods: The study included 125 Korean female breast cancer survivors aged over 19 year old enrolled in the 2009-11 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Women who answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘have you ever been diagnosed breast cancer by a physician?’ was defined as a breast cancer survivors. Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured and Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Body fat percent was assessed by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Standardized surveys by trained interviewers were used to investigate survivors’ obesity-related lifestyles such as physical activities, sleeping hours and nutrients intake.
Results: 48.4% of Korean breast cancer survivors were obese. 44.7% had abdominal obesity and 89.2% had body fat percent over 30. Their physical activity level was generally low; only 22.5% maintained health-enhancing level of physical activities. Fat intake (14.4 [0.8] %) was as low and carbohydrate intake (74.2 [1.2] %) was high. However, daily dietary fiber intake was low (10.5 [1.1] g). Factors that were found to be significantly related with obesity in Korean breast cancer survivors were low education level (P=0.042), smoking (P<0.001), having chronic diseases (P=0.002) and short sleeping hours (P<0.001).
Conclusions: It is mandatory for physician to evaluate obesity status of breast cancer survivors as soon as their diagnosis and give proper intervention to maintain healthy weight and healthy obesity related lifestyle.
Korean J Health Promot 2014;14(3):93-102

Keywords: Obesity, Body mass index, Physical activity, Metabolic equivalent, Nutrient intake