Just 5 percent of U.S. cancer survivors are meeting experts’ recommendations on diet, physical activity and cigarette smoking, a new survey shows.

But the more recommendations a cancer survivor did meet, the better his or her health-related quality of life (HRQoL), Dr. Christopher Blanchard, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, and colleagues found.

Overall, 5 percent were meeting all three requirements, while 12.5 percent were meeting none. Fewer than 10 percent of survivors of any of the six cancer types were meeting two or more recommendations.

Among breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder, uterine and melanoma survivors — all of the cancer types the researchers looked at - health-related quality of life rose steadily with the number of lifestyle recommendations met.

In the general U.S. population, the researchers note, an estimated 49 percent meet physical activity recommendations, 24 percent meet the 5-A-Day requirement, and 79.5 percent do not smoke — the one area where cancer survivors in this study were doing better.

“This suggests that a cancer diagnosis may have greater potential to be a ‘teachable moment’ across several cancer groups in terms of changing smoking behavior, but it may be less effective in changing physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption,” the researchers say.