Frequency of eating and risk of colorectal cancer in women

Numerous dietary constituents have been extensively studied with regard to colorectal cancer risk, but food intake patterns have been studied less frequently. The purpose of these analyses was to describe associations between frequency of eating and colorectal cancer risk in women. Female Wisconsin residents aged 30-74 years with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer within two years were identified through the statewide tumor registry. Control subjects were randomly selected from lists of licensed drivers (< 65 yrs old) and Medicare beneficiaries (65-74 yrs old). Meal and snack frequency was obtained on a subset of case (n = 189) and control (n = 322) subjects. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) obtained from conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate multivariate-adjusted relative risks. Compared with women consuming three or four meals daily, women consuming one to two meals daily had an adjusted relative risk of 0.57 (95% CI = 0.34-0.94). Snacking frequency and frequency of meals + snacks were not associated with cancer risk. These results are consistent with other reports and suggest that meal frequency is associated with colorectal cancer risk.