A case-control study of dietary patterns and lifestyle factors affecting colorectal cancer in Hunan province, South China.

Authors

Yanfang Qiu, Feng Yi, Rui Zhong, Caiyun Yi, Jiali Wang, Li Li, Jianghua Xie, Lei Zhu, Wei Wang, Yanhui Zou, Qiong Zhang

Published in

Medicine. Volume 105. Issue 32. Pages e50091. Aug 07, 2026.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of demographic factors, diet, sleep patterns, and physical exercise on the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in Hunan, China. This study consecutively recruited patients newly diagnosed with CRC between July 30, 2020, and October 27, 2021. Each case was individually matched in a 1:1 ratio with one of the patient's family members' data control based on gender and age (±2 years). Additionally, efforts were made to ensure that matches were closely aligned with respect to educational level, place of residence, and occupation. The results showed that participants with primary school education or below were more likely to develop CRC compared with those with college education or above (OR = 5.693, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.789-41.076, P = .085). A balanced diet appears to be a risk factor for CRC compared with a plant-preference diet (PPD) (OR = 1.726, 95%CI = 0.980-3.040, P = .059). The risk of CRC was 1.542 times higher in participants who drank carbonated beverages than in those who did not (OR = 1.542, 95%CI = 0.989-2.405, P = .056). Participants with a walking habit exhibited a protective factor relative to those without a walking habit (OR = 0.533, 95%CI = 0.392-0.725, P < .001). After adjusting for gender and age, our case-control study found that the following factors were associated with an increased risk of CRC: consumption of carbonated soft drinks, lack of exercise, having a balanced diet compared with a PPD, and educational attainment at primary school level or below compared with college or higher. It should be noted that people with higher education level, regular exercise routines, and walking habits can reduce their risk of CRC. However, this paired study failed to prove the influence of alcohol consumption (AC) and smoking on the incidence of CRC. Since the incidence of CRC is the result of complex effects of multiple factors, further research is needed to discover its mechanism.

PMID:
42566591
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Aug 2026.

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