Are You Eating for Cancer Prevention? Take This Quiz to Find Out |
Cancer and Nutrition Quiz
Take this short quiz to find out if your eating habits are protecting you from cancer. Answer each question as best as you can. When you are finished, click on the "submit" button.
| Cancer and Nutrition Quiz |
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1.
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How many servings of grain products do you eat each day? One serving is one slice of bread, 1/2 cup pasta or rice, one tortilla, 3/4 cup of cereal. |
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Zero to one servings per day
Two to three servings per day
Four to five servings per day
Six or more servings per day |
| 2. |
When available, do you eat whole-grain products instead of processed (refined) grains? Examples of whole grains include whole-wheat bread, brown rice, and whole-grain cereals. Examples of refined grains include white breads, white rice, and refined breakfast cereal. |
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Eat whole-grain choices most of the time (51+ percent)
Eat mostly white bread, white rice, and refined cereal products |
| 3. |
How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat daily? A fruit serving is one apple, banana, orange, or other fruit. A vegetable serving is one cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked carrots, broccoli, spinach, or other vegetable. |
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None
One to two per day
Three to four per day
Five or more per day |
| 4. |
How often do you use beans or other legumes instead of meat? Examples include peas, lentils, split peas, kidney beans, garbanzos, soy beans, and pinto beans. |
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Seldom or never
Once per week
Two times per week
Three or more times per week |
| 5. |
From the following two lists, indicate the kinds of foods you usually eat: |
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High Saturated Fat Foods:
Hamburgers, hot dogs, bologna, steaks, sour cream, cheese, whole milk, eggs, butter, cake, pastry, ice cream, chocolate, fried foods, and typical fast foods
Low Saturated Fat Foods:
Very lean meats, skinless poultry, fish, skim milk, low-fat dairy products, fruit desserts, gelatin, vegetables, pasta, legumes (peas and beans) |
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Eat mostly foods high in saturated fat
Eat the same amount of both
Eat mostly foods low in saturated fat |
| 6. |
How often do you eat red meats and other high-fat meats (steak, hamburger, sausage, bacon, cold cuts, etc.)? |
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Daily
Four to six times per week
Two to three times per week
Seldom or never |
| 7. |
How often do you engage in moderately intense (or vigorous) physical activity for 30 minutes or more? Examples of moderately intense activities include brisk walking, swimming, active gardening, and aerobic dance. |
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Five or more times per week
Three to four times per week
One to two times per week
Seldom or never |
| 8. |
How many alcoholic drinks do you consume per day? (One drink equals 12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, 10 oz of wine cooler, or 1.5 oz of hard liquor.) |
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Less than one drink per day
One drink per day
Two drinks per day
Three or more drinks per day |
| 9. |
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| 10. |
Gender:
Male
Female |
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Click here after you have answered all of the questions. Your results will appear below. |
| Here Are Your Results! |
| This report is based on The American Cancer Society's Guidelines on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer Prevention, and Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer, a joint statement by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund. Their nutrition guidelines are listed below, along with feedback on how you are doing in each area. |
1. Choose most of the foods you eat from plant sources.
These foods are high in dietary fiber and other elements that help protect your body from cancer. More specifically: |
- Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. A high intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of most cancers. Choose a wide variety, especially the brightly colored (dark green, yellow, red) fruits and vegetables.
- You report eating
- Eat at least six portions a day of a variety of breads, grains, and cereals. Eat legumes (beans) and tubers (sweet potatoes) at least two times per week. Whole-grains and minimally processed foods are best.
- You report eating
- You report eating
- You report eating
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| 2. Limit your intake of foods high in animal fat. |
- Limit your consumption of fatty foods of animal origin. This includes fatty meats, fried meats or chicken, and whole-fat dairy products including butter, cream cheese, and aged cheeses.
- You report eating
- Limit your consumption of red meats, especially fatty meats. Fatty meats include steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, etc. If you eat red meat, choose lean cuts and limit your intake to 3 oz (80 grams) daily. It is preferable to choose fish, skinless poultry, or legumes instead of red meats.
- You report eating
- Choose moderate amounts of vegetable oils – for example, olive oil, canola oil, and other vegetable oils – that are not hydrogenated. Foods high in fat, such as nuts, olives, and avocado, are good quality fats that are healthy for you when eaten in moderate amounts. They can even lower the risk of heart disease.
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| 3. Be physically active and maintain a healthy weight. |
- Be moderately active for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week. Physical activity helps reduce the risk of some cancers and helps maintain a healthy weight. (Check with your doctor before beginning or significantly increasing your exercise program if you have an ongoing medical condition, such as diabetes or heart disease, or if you have been sedentary and are male over 40 or female over 50.)
- You report being active for 30 or more minutes
- Stay within your healthy weight range. The World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health use a weight standard calculated from height and weight called body-mass index or BMI. A BMI of less than 25 is recommended for optimum health; a BMI of 30+ is high risk.
- Your BMI value is
This BMI value
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| 4. Limit your consumption of alcoholic beverages, if you drink at all. |
- Drinking alcohol is not recommended. If consumed at all, alcoholic drinks should be limited to less than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
- You report
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Overall risk
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There were nine specific recommendations for lowering cancer risk through dietary means.
You scored well in of those nine areas. The areas you can improve in are marked with a check below. |
| 1. |
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Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day. |
| 2. |
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Eat six or more servings of grains every day. |
| 3. |
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Eat mostly whole-grain breads and cereals instead of refined grains. |
| 4. |
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Eat legumes (beans, lentils, peas) two or more times per week. |
| 5. |
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Limit your intake of foods high in saturated fat (fatty meats, whole milk, butter, cream, cheese). |
| 6. |
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Limit your intake of red meats (steak, hamburger, etc.). |
| 7. |
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Get 30 or more minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week. |
| 8. |
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Maintain a healthy weight (keep your BMI below 25). |
| 9. |
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Avoid alcohol, or if you choose to drink, limit your consumption to no more than one drink per day for women and no more than two drinks per day for men. |
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| Written by: Don Hall, DrPH, CHES |
| Date Published: January 01,2001
Date Reviewed: July 23,2008 |
| Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis of specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt professional medical attention if you have a particular concern about your health or specific symptoms. Wellsource, Inc. is not liable for any health consequences resulting from your use of this site.
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