Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Weight management barriers and facilitators after breast cancer in Australian women: a  
national survey  
 
Version: 0 Date: 17 Apr 2020  
 
Reviewer: Rebecca A. Krukowski  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
This is an important, interesting, and well -written manuscript. I was particularly intrigued by the 
findings that so few of the participants received any weight related guidance at the time of 
diagnosis and appa rently, if they did receive guidance, the guidance did not come from 
professional with weight management counseling expertise. It was also interesting that fatigue 
was identified as a clear barrier to physical activity. There are a few areas that merit add itional 
discussion:  
 
1) Only 4% of women thought that a breast cancer specific program would be helpful -- this is 
very surprising.  
2) Most adults gain 1 -2 lbs per year -- how do these weight gains reported in this manuscript 
compare? They seem comparable, so maybe you would see a similar weight gain among women 
who don't have breast cancer.  
3) The amount of weight gain was not associated with time since diagnosis. This could be 
explained by the sample all being pretty far from diagnosis or perhaps the amoun t of weight gain 
was actually normative for women in general. I would have thought that weight gain would have 
been more acute immediately after diagnosis.  
 
There were a few confusing/unnecessary lines:  
1) Lines 69 -71, does not strengthen the argument  
2) Line 85: Not clear  
3) Lines 95 -96: Not clear  
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to  assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an add itional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acce ptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
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3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
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