Table 1.

Inclusion criteria and items included in specific groups of the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations

Recommendation group	Inclusion criteria	Items included
Non-starchy vegetables	Relatively unprocessed non-starchy vegetables.	Green leafy vegetables, broccoli, okra, onions, tomatoes, aborigine, cauliflower, pumpkin, cabbage, carrots and beetroot.
Fruits	Relatively unprocessed fruits.	Apples, pears, bananas, oranges, grapes, nectarines, peaches, watermelon, mango, all berries, avocados, plums and pineapple.
Fast food, and processed foods high in fat, refined starches or sugar	Foods in this food group were classified using the NOVA classification system, calculated as a percentage of energy (kJ) from ultraprocessed foods (solid, semi-solid and liquid foods) divided by the total energy intake/d (kJ) for each participant(46).	Fast foods, pre-prepared dishes, snacks, bakery foods and confectionery high in fat, refined starches or added sugars such as pizza, potato fries, hamburgers, deep fried foods, candies and desserts. Sugar-sweetened beverages, alcoholic beverages and processed meat were excluded to avoid double penalisation.
Red meat	All mammalian muscle meat. Organ and offal meat were included in the analysis since consumption thereof is higher in this population compared with other populations.	All beef, veal, pork, mutton, lamb, horse and goat meat (not processed).
Processed meat	All meat that has been altered by the processes of curing, salting, fermentation, smoking and other methods used to enhance flavour or improve preservation.	Sausages, polonies, meat loafs, Russians, corned beef, Vienna’s
Sugar-sweetened beverages	Liquids with added free sugars (sucrose, fructose, maize syrup and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates), sugar-free and artificially sweetened drinks.	Carbonated soft drinks (Coca-Cola products etc.), dairy and fruit juice blends, cordials, fruit juice with added sugar and energy drinks.
Breast-feeding	The duration of cumulative breast-feeding in case and control participants (separately) was used to determine adherence to the breast-feeding guideline.	Breast-feeding of 6 months and above.
*Alcoholic beverages	Any beverage containing alcohol and home-made beer were included.	Beer, wine, ciders and spirits.

^*Amount of ethanol in alcoholic beverages (adapted from Shams-White et al., 2019)⁽¹⁹⁾