Association between nutritional literacy and cancer anorexia among gastrointestinal cancer patients: a moderated mediation analysis on the roles of self-efficacy and family support

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The study analyzed the relationship between nutritional literacy, self-efficacy, family support, and cancer anorexic behavior in gastrointestinal cancer patients.
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A total of 248 patients undergoing chemotherapy were recruited from an oncology center in Henan Province, China, for this research.
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Nutritional literacy was found to be positively associated with anorexic behavior scores, mediated by self-efficacy.
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Family support positively moderated the relationship between nutritional literacy and self-efficacy, enhancing the association when support was high.
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The findings suggest that improving nutritional literacy, self-efficacy, and family support could alleviate cancer-related anorexia in patients.

Frontiers In Oncology

by Peiyao Zhu, Zhen Li, Hongmei Zhang, Hengyu Hu, Xin Chen, Jingwen Cao, Yan Guo
July 9, 2026

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