E-Health’s Influence on Cancer Survivors’ Support for Junk-Food Policy: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis

Abstract

Background Understanding how factors such as e-health use influences junk-food restrictions is crucial for advancing cancer preventive interventions. This study focuses on cancer survivors, examining the role of increased e-health usage in shaping their support for junk-food control policies. It particularly investigates the perceived cancer risk associated with diet and the impact of calorie information awareness.Methods Data for this study were derived from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 5 Cycle 4), focusing on a sample of 523 cancer survivors (average age: 67.6 years). The study explored: (1) the impact of e-health use (EHU) on support for junk-food control policy (SJCP); (2) the mediation effect of perceived cancer risk of eating (PCRE) on this relationship; and (3) the moderating role of notice calorie information (NCI) on the PCRE-SJCP pathway.Results The study revealed a positive correlation between e-health use and support for junk-food control policy, with each percentage increase in e-health use raising support by 8.1 percentage points. The perceived cancer risk of eating was identified as a pivotal mediator, accounting for 13.6% of the relationship between e-health use and policy support. Notably, the notice calorie information negatively moderated this mediating effect (bp = -0.159).Conclusion E-health use indirectly influences support for junk-food control policy through the perceived cancer risk from diet. This indirect influence is substantial, although notice calorie information tends to weaken this relationship, highlighting the nuanced ways in which cancer survivors form attitudes towards food-related policies.