Food Craving in Childhood Cancer Survivors

Background Childhood cancer survivors are at an increased risk of obesity, but the causes for this elevated risk are not entirely understood. Cancer treatment may impact the hypothalamic‐pituitary region of the brain, causing long‐term changes in food cravings and intake. Procedure: We used a modified Food Craving Inventory to assess total food craving and craving for carbohydrates, sweets, fat and fast‐foods in 22 survivors of pediatric leukemia and lymphoma (median age at study entry = 11.7 years; median years since diagnosis = 5.6 years) at baseline, 6 and 12 months. We further explored whether cancer‐ and treatment‐related factors were associated with craving and whether food craving predicted weight gain in childhood cancer survivors. Results: The mean total craving score at baseline was 2.1 (SD=0.7), and the mean score for each component, from the highest to the lowest, was 2.6 (SD=0.9) for fast‐foods, 2.1 (SD=0.8) for sweets, 2.0 (SD=0.6) for carbohydrates, and 1.8 (SD=0.7) for fat. No significant trend in food craving was detected during the one‐year follow‐up. Compared to survivors diagnosed at a younger age (<4.5 years), those diagnosed at an older age (蠅4.5 years) had a significantly higher total craving (2.5 vs. 1.7, p=0.007) and craving for fast‐foods (2.9 vs. 2.1, p=0.03), sweets (2.5 vs 1.8, p=0.03), carbohydrates (2.3 vs 1.7, p=0.03), and fat (2.1 vs. 1.3, p=0.004). Food craving was not significantly associated with changes in BMI z‐score in the 16 survivors who completed follow‐up visits. Conclusions Age at diagnosis may potentially affect food craving in childhood cancer survivors. Future large‐scale studies are needed to further evaluate food craving in childhood cancer survivors.