Abstract A01: Cancer-risk behavior clustering involving physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status among U.S. college students
Authors: Ciecierski Christina Czart , Kang Joseph , Hitsman Brian 
Published: May 2015

Background: Health disparities in the U.S. are disproportionately found among racial and ethnic minorities and populations of lower socioeconomic status. Cancer is one of six primary health concerns identified by the NIH in which ethnic and racial minorities experience a higher risk of disease and mortality rates when compared to Caucasians. In large part, this could be due to demonstrated ethnic, racial and socioeconomic differences in cancer-related behavioral risk factors like unhealthy diet and overweight, physical inactivity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. For example, dietary practices influence the risk of cancer, and epidemiologic studies show that ethnic and racial minorities, particularly of lower SES, often maintain poorer diet and nutrition, with a growing body of evidence implicating environmental factors such as limited access to affordable healthy foods and targeted marketing of high-calorie foods and beverages to these populations. Many cancer-related deaths are preventable through modifying unhealthy behavior. This study aims to understand how cancer-risk behaviors, including physical activity, diet, body-mass and tobacco/alcohol use, cluster as a function of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status in a large sample of young adults enrolled U.S. colleges and universities.

Methodology: Using the American College Health Association's National College Health Survey Fall 2010 dataset, latent class analysis (LCA) was used to examine clustering of alcohol binge drinking, tobacco use, poor diet (insufficient fruit/vegetable consumption), and physical inactivity. The identified clusters were examined by students' socioeconomic status as measured

Findings: Among 30,093 college students surveyed, there were high rates of tobacco use (24%), alcohol binge drinking (33%), physical inactivity (64%), and unhealthy diet (95%). Results of the LCA of behavior clustering by socioeconomic status will be presented, with a focus on alcohol binge drinking and tobacco use.

Conclusions: Most U.S. students smoke and binge drink at high rates and do not meet current guideline recommendations for physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption. Interventions focused on modifying multiple risk behaviors in college student populations could have a much larger effect on cancer prevention than interventions targeting any single behavior. Findings should provide valuable information about the extent to which multiple health behavior interventions should be tailored by racial/ethnic background and socioeconomic status.

Citation Format: Christina Czart Ciecierski, Joseph Kang, Brian Hitsman. Cancer-risk behavior clustering involving physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status among U.S. college students. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A01. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-A01