Changes in Lipid Intake of Vietnamese and Related Health Consequences

Abstract

During the past two decade, the nutrition situation of Vietnam is changing rapidly. According to the national nutrition survey in 2000, the daily average intake of animal products specially meat is increasing clearly (meat intake from 24g in 1990 to 51g in 2000). The proportion of diet energy is changed, the part of fat energy have raised from 6 per cent (1990) to 12 per cent (2000) and in many urban groups-more than 20 per cent. The use of oil is common in urban areas while in rural areas pork fat is more popular. Though the improvement is still modest but new emerging health problems has appeared. While PEM (underweight, stunting), micronutrient deficiencies are still of public health significance, the rate of overweight, obesity (primary school children, adult in urban areas), hypertension and diabetes is increasing alarmingly. The rate of type 2 diabetes in 4 big cities is raising from 1-2 per cent in the beginning of 1990 decade up to 4, 9 per cent actually. The majority of obese subjects have abdominal obesity and the percentage of body fat is relative high. Studies on lipid status have shown that the prevalence of high serum cholesterol was the lowest in the rural (2%) and the highest in the urban (16%) and in contrary the low serum cholesterol percentage was the highest in the rural (45, 3%) and the lowest in the urban (11, 2%). The high index of thrombogenecity (IT) of the Vietnamese diet may result from their low intake from fish and vegetable oil.