Maternal nutrition factors and socio-economic status in childhood cancer

Abstract

Objective: Cancer is described as a condition in which cells divide without control. Dietary pattern plays an important role in some cancer incidence. The aim of this study was to determine nutritional risk factors and socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood cancer. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 71 cancerous children for 2 years. Their mothers were asked about nutritional habits’ information during pregnancy as well as SES. In addition, data of the breast-feeding of these children was assessed. Data were collected through a face-to-face interview with mothers. Data were analysed by descriptive analysis and chi- square test with SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 16) software. Results: Mean age of these children was 0-16 years old, and 54.9% of them were girls. 81.2% of them were from urban areas and 18.3% were from rural areas. Among of these children, 41.4% suffered from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). About 83.1% of their mothers consumed routine supplements (iron, foliate and multivitamin) during pregnancy. 75% of these children consumed nutritional supplements (vitamin A and D) in the first two years of life. 74.6% of their mothers drank tea daily. There was no significant difference between the children breastfeeding, complementary feeding information and the type of cancer. Conclusions: Among all the considered factors, just in the case of tea consumption (as a known risk factor) we achieve a parallel result to our assumed hypothesis. Since diet is a modifiable factor, therefore, assessing the nutritional status of cancer patients is a good approach to understanding the risk factors for cancer.

Keywords

• childhood cancer
• nutrition factors
• ses