Acceptability of a structured diet and exercise weight loss intervention in breast cancer survivors living with an overweight condition or obesity: A qualitative analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: Weight loss increases survivorship following breast cancer diagnosis. However, most breast cancer survivors (BCS) do not meet diet and exercise recommendations. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers and facilitators of BCS who had lymphedema and who participated in a 22‐week weight loss lifestyle intervention. Methods and results: Participants completed semi‐structured interviews about barriers and facilitators to intervention adherence. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was conducted. Participants (n = 17) were 62 ± 8.0 years of age with a mean body mass index of 34.0 ± 7.1 kg/m 2. Four themes emerged: (1) facilitators of intervention adherence, (2) barriers of intervention adherence, (3) continuation of healthy habits post intervention, and (4) recommendations for intervention improvements. Facilitators of intervention adherence were education, social support, routine, motivation, goal‐setting, meal‐provisioning, self‐awareness, and supervised exercise. Barriers to intervention adherence were personal life, health, meal dissatisfaction, seasonality, unchallenging exercises, and exercising alone. All women planned to continue the acquired healthy habits post intervention. Recommendations to improve the study included addressing the exercise regime, meal‐provisioning, and dietary intake monitoring methods. Conclusion: Future strategies to engage BCS in weight loss interventions should promote group exercise, offer individualized meal‐provisioning and exercise regimes, provide transition tools, and allow participants to choose their self‐monitoring method.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Subsidizing or covering external costs associated with behaviour change (e.g., healthy food, gym memberships, physical activity equipment) has proven beneficial for compliance and improvement of intervention outcomes in low sodium diet and activity interventions.
“This has proven to be beneficial for compliance and consequently in improvement of intervention outcomes in low sodium diet [78–82] and activity interventions [83].”
From Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as [83]
The Methods report that participants received a three-month gym membership, and Theme 3 says many were grateful for it as a way to continue physical activity. The Discussion suggests the membership may explain participants’ intentions to keep exercising, but this qualitative study does not demonstrate that covering costs improved compliance or intervention outcomes. It does not assess physical activity equipment costs. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The theory of planned behavior
Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587 · see citing works
(2014) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 9,400 · see citing works
Nutrition and physical activity guidelines for cancer survivors
Rock, C. L., Doyle, C., Demark‐Wahnefried, W., Meyerhardt, J., Courneya, K. S., Schwartz, A. L., Bandera, E. V., Hamilton, K. K., Grant, B., McCullough, M., et al. (2012) · CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians · doi:10.3322/caac.21142 · Cited by 1,995 · see citing works
Acsm's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription
Acsm (2017) · Cited by 1,452 · see citing works
Blanchard, C. M., Courneya, K. S., & Stein, K. (2008) · Journal of Clinical Oncology · doi:10.1200/jco.2007.14.6217 · Cited by 1,021 · see citing works
Effect of obesity on survival of women with breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis
Protani, M. M., Coory, M. D., & Martin, J. H. (2010) · Breast Cancer Research and Treatment · doi:10.1007/s10549-010-0990-0 · Cited by 961 · see citing works
Physical Activity, Biomarkers, and Disease Outcomes in Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review
Ballard-Barbash, R. R., Friedenreich, C. M., Courneya, K. S., Siddiqi, S. M., McTiernan, A., & Alfano, C. M. (2012) · JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute · doi:10.1093/jnci/djs207 · Cited by 832 · see citing works
Lahart, I. M., Metsios, G. S., Nevill, A. M., & Carmichael, A. R. (2015) · Acta Oncologica · doi:10.3109/0284186x.2014.998275 · Cited by 535 · see citing works
Weight gain in breast cancer survivors: prevalence, pattern and health consequences
Vance, V., Mourtzakis, M., McCargar, L. J., & Hanning, R. M. (2010) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1467-789x.2010.00805.x · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Celis-Morales, C., Livingstone, K. M., Marsaux, C. F. M., Macready, A. L., Fallaize, R., O’Donovan, C. B., Woolhead, C., Forster, H., Walsh, M. C., Navas-Carretero, S., et al. (2016) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyw186 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Weight-loss intervention adherence and factors promoting adherence: a meta-analysis
Rogers, M., Lemstra, M., Bird, Y., Nwankwo, C., & Moraros, J. (2016) · Patient Preference and Adherence · doi:10.2147/ppa.s103649 · Cited by 345 · see citing works
Burke, L. E., Conroy, M. B., Sereika, S. M., Elci, O. U., Styn, M. A., Acharya, S. D., Sevick, M. A., Ewing, L. J., & Glanz, K. (2011) · Obesity · doi:10.1038/oby.2010.208 · Cited by 329 · see citing works
Exercise for People with Cancer: A Clinical Practice Guideline
SEGAL, R. J., Zwaal, C., Green, E., Tomasone, J. R., Loblaw, A., Petrella, T. M., & the Exercise for People with Cancer Guideline Development Group (2017) · Current Oncology · doi:10.3747/co.24.3376 · Cited by 285 · see citing works
Weight Gain in Women Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
Demark‐Wahnefried, W., Rimer, B. K., & Winer, E. P. (1997) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(97)00133-8 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Physical activity and obesity in Canadian cancer survivors
Courneya, K. S., Katzmarzyk, P. T., & Bacon, E. (2008) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/cncr.23455 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Brunet, J., Taran, S., Burke, S. M., & Sabiston, C. M. (2013) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.802378 · Cited by 171 · see citing works
Facilitators and barriers to weight loss and weight loss maintenance: a qualitative exploration
Metzgar, C. J., Preston, A. G., Miller, D. L., & Nickols‐Richardson, S. M. (2015) · Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1111/jhn.12273 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Chlebowski, R. T., Aragaki, A. K., Anderson, G. L., Thomson, C. A., Manson, J. E., Simon, M. S., Howard, B. V., Rohan, T. E., Snetselar, L., Lane, D. S., et al. (2017) · Journal of Clinical Oncology · doi:10.1200/jco.2016.72.0326 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Hefferon, K., Murphy, H., McLeod, J., Mutrie, N., & Campbell, A. (2013) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/cyt083 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Carels, R. A., Darby, L. A., Rydin, S., Douglass, O. M., Cacciapaglia, H. M., & O'Brien, W. H. (2005) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm3003_2 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Heideman, W. H., Russell, N. S., Gundy, C. M., Rookus, M. A., & Voskuil, D. W. (2008) · European Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2008.09.003 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Casey, D., De Civita, M., & Dasgupta, K. (2010) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1464-5491.2009.02873.x · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Robertson, C., Avenell, A., Boachie, C., Stewart, F. J., Archibald, D., Douglas, F., Hoddinott, P., van Teijlingen, E., & Boyers, D. (2015) · Obesity Research & Clinical Practice · doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2015.04.005 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Eyles, H. C., & Mhurchú, C. N. (2009) · Nutrition Reviews · doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00219.x · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Sheppard, V. B., Hicks, J., Makambi, K. H., Hurtado‐de‐Mendoza, A., Demark‐Wahnefried, W., & Adams-Campbell, L. L. (2015) · Contemporary Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/j.cct.2015.12.005 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Hammarström, A., Wiklund, A. F., Lindahl, B., Larsson, C., & Ahlgren, C. (2014) · BMC Women's Health · doi:10.1186/1472-6874-14-59 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Weight Loss Intervention for Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review
Playdon, M., Thomas, G., Sanft, T., Harrigan, M., Ligibel, J., & Irwin, M. (2013) · Current Breast Cancer Reports · doi:10.1007/s12609-013-0113-0 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Baumann, F. T., Bieck, O., Oberste, M., Kuhn, R., Schmitt, J., Wentrock, S., Zopf, E., Bloch, W., Schüle, K., & Reuss-Borst, M. (2017) · Supportive Care in Cancer · doi:10.1007/s00520-016-3490-x · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Mascarenhas, M., Chan, J. M., Vittinghoff, E., Blarigan, E. L. V., & Hecht, F. M. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.9310 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
The weight-loss experience: a qualitative exploration
Rogerson, D., Soltani, H., & Copeland, R. J. (2016) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3045-6 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Gu, K., Chen, X., Zheng, Y., Chen, Z., Zheng, W., Lu, W., & Shu, X. (2009) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1007/s10552-009-9491-z · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Breast cancer survivors’ perspectives on a weight loss and physical activity lifestyle intervention
Balneaves, L. G., Patten, C. L. V., Truant, T. L. O., Kelly, M. T., Neil‐Sztramko, S., & Campbell, K. L. (2014) · Supportive Care in Cancer · doi:10.1007/s00520-014-2185-4 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Adherence to Physical Activity Guidelines in Breast Cancer Survivors
Smith, S. G., & Chagpar, A. B. (2010) · The American Surgeon · doi:10.1177/000313481007600929 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Healthy dietary patterns and risk and survival of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of cohort studies
Hou, R., Wei, J., Hu, Y., Zhang, X., Sun, X., Chandrasekar, E. K., & Voruganti, V. S. (2019) · Cancer Causes & Control · doi:10.1007/s10552-019-01193-z · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Attitudes Toward Exercise Following Participation in an Exercise Intervention Study
Ene, H., McRae, C., & Schenkman, M. L. (2011) · Neurology Report · doi:10.1097/npt.0b013e31820cb917 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Terranova, C. O., Lawler, S., Spathonis, K., Eakin, E., & Reeves, M. M. (2016) · Supportive Care in Cancer · doi:10.1007/s00520-016-3542-2 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Individual experiences following a 6-month exercise intervention: A qualitative study
Kerkelä, E. S., Jönsson, L., Lindwall, M., & Strand, J. (2015) · International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being · doi:10.3402/qhw.v10.26376 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Fox, L., Cahill, F., Burgess, C. C., Peat, N., Rudman, S. M., Kinsella, N., Cahill, D. J., George, G., Santaolalla, A., & Hemelrijck, M. V. (2017) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2017/3507124 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 39 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [33]Lunenburg FC. Goal‐setting theory of motivation. Int J Manag Bus Adm. 2011; 15(1): 1‐ 6.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Deslippe, A. L., Soanes, A., Bouchaud, C. C., Beckenstein, H., Slim, M., Plourde, H., & Cohen, T. R. (2023) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-023-01424-2 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
“This has proven to be beneficial for compliance and consequently in improvement of intervention outcomes in low sodium diet [78–82] and activity interventions [83].”
BackgroundSelf-citationHoedjes, M., Nijman, I., & Hinnen, C. (2022) · Cancers · doi:10.3390/cancers14082026 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Puklin, L. S., Ferrucci, L. M., Harrigan, M., McGowan, C. J., Zupa, M., Cartmel, B., Li, F., Ligibel, J. A., Spiegelman, D. L., Sharifi, M., et al. (2024) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/cncr.35280 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Zhou, K., Lim, T., Dodge, J. L., Terrault, N. A., Wilkens, L. R., & Setiawan, V. W. (2023) · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1111/apt.17523 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Gabel, K., Chakos, K., Oliveira, M. L., Perez, J. S., Cares, K., Lima, N. S., Ganschow, P. S., Yanez, B. R., Gadi, V., & Tussing-Humphreys, L. (2024) · JNCI Cancer Spectrum · doi:10.1093/jncics/pkae108 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Fasano, G. A., Bayard, S., Johnson, J., Gordon, A., Harris, M., Taiwo, E. O., Yeung, J., Zenilman, M. E., Newman, L. A., & Bea, V. J. (2023) · Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities · doi:10.1007/s40615-023-01564-y · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Perperidi, M., Saltaouras, G., Konstandis, A., Craemer, M. D., Saloustros, E. S., Theodorakis, Y., & Androutsos, O. (2023) · Journal of Nutritional Science · doi:10.1017/jns.2023.94 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Ikeuchi, K., Nishida, S., & Karikawa, M. (2024) · Progress in Rehabilitation Medicine · doi:10.2490/prm.20240018 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Kheirmandparizi, M., Gouin, J., Bouchaud, C. C., Kebbe, M., Bergeron, C., Civi, R. M., Rhodes, R. E., Farnesi, B., Bouguila, N., Conklin, A., et al. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0294652 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationScoping review: obese elderly women with breast cancer and physical activity/exercise
Felix, M. S. (2022) · Global Health Journal · doi:10.1016/j.glohj.2022.07.011 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Zhou, Z., Shen, Y., Ye, W., Pei, C., Liu, J., Lyu, W., Wang, J., & Geng, Z. (2025) · Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.apjon.2025.100722 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Guardamagna, L., Diamanti, O., Artioli, G., Casole, L., Bernardi, M., Bonadies, F., Zennaro, E., Modena, G. M., Nania, T., & Dellafiore, F. (2025) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph22071131 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Martin, É., Meglio, A. D., Maccarone, S., Pistilli, B., Vanlemmens, L., Ségura, C., Bouleuc, C., Trédan, O., Crane, T. E., Soldato, D., et al. (2025) · European Journal of Cancer Care · doi:10.1155/ecc/5589906 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Sillice, M. A., DUNSIGER, S. I., & Bock, B. C. (2023) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12529-023-10186-x
Pila, E., Sabiston, C. M., Christensen, R. A. G., Huellemann, K. L., Hallward, L., Taylor, V. H., Arbour‐Nicitopoulos, K. P., & Wharton, S. (2023) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2023.2247426
Cowan-Dickie, S., Fisher, A., & Shaw, C. (2024) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-5306355/v1
Experiences and needs of Dutch cancer survivors regarding lifestyle counselling: a qualitative study
van Aken, B., Manshanden, A., Kroeze, W., Florisson, N., Groot-Sluijsmans, B. C., Hoedjes, M., van Asselt, K. M., ter Beek, L., & Steenhuis, I. H. (2025) · BMC Cancer · doi:10.1186/s12885-025-15186-6
Yu, M., Li, C., Cao, Y., Gu, Y., Zhou, X., Zhang, X., Geng, R., & Dandan, G. (2026) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2026.1961839
- Authors
- Beckenstein, H., Slim, M., Kim, H., Plourde, H., Kilgour, R., & Cohen, T. R.
- Affiliations
- McGill University (CA)
- Concordia University (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Cohen, Tamara R.
- Venue
- Cancer Reports
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-01-25
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e1337-e1337
- ISSN
- 2573-8348 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8222564
- OpenAlex
- W3122710440
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cancer Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Keywords
- breast cancer survivors, weight loss interventions, obesity, overweight, lymphedema, diet and exercise adherence, barriers and facilitators, social support, supervised exercise, self-monitoring, treatment acceptability
- MeSH terms
- Diet, Healthy, Cancer Survivors, Aged, Breast Neoplasms, Exercise Therapy, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Obesity, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Weight Loss, Body Mass Index, Qualitative Research, Overweight
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
