Comparisons of dietary intake in young and old Asian Americans: A two-generation study

Abstract

We assessed dietary patterns of 71 young Asians and 71 old Asians with each pair residing in the same household. The purpose of this study was to discover differences in nutrient intakes between young and old Asians, in particular, fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, iron, calcium, zinc, potassium and sodium. Our ethnic subgroup comparisons of nutrient intakes in young and old Asians were also performed. We analyzed mean nutrient intakes and percent RDA for Kcal, protein, iron, and zinc, and energy nutrient (% Kcal) distributions for young and old Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese. Three-day dietary records were used as a tool in collecting data. The diets were analyzed by the computer program Nutritionist III (V7) and statistically analyzed by Mystat and SPSS. In general, young Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese consumed lower amounts of dietary zinc and calcium when compared to the RDAs for their age groups. In the old group, Japanese consumed more nutrients overall than those of Vietnamese and Chinese. Our results indicated that both old and young Asians ate rather well. However, both calcium intakes and dietary fiber were relatively low in both groups. Apart from their dietary habits, both groups consumed limited amounts of fruits and vegetables. We found that young Asians had a higher fat diet and consumed more cholesterol than their old counterparts. Based on our findings, the young Asians ate out three times more than the old Asians. Old Asians ate more ethnic foods than young Asians. Young Asians' diets were more Americanized in that they ate more fast foods and drank more juices than old Asians. In the process of acculturation, the young Asians consumed foods that were higher in fat and cholesterol, but lower in fiber. They have acquired a diet in which the positive aspects of their traditional diets were replaced by the negative aspects of the Western diets, which are relatively high in fat and cholesterol, but low in fiber.