Dietary Habits of Asian Indians in Relation to Length of Residence in the United States

Abstract

Cultural sensitivity among dietetics professionals requires a knowledge of ethnic dietary practices to assist in effective nutrition counseling and planning (1). Since 1965, more than 800,000 Asian Indians have settled in the United States as students or technical or business professionals, along with their dependents (2). Their numbers are expected to reach the million mark by the turn of the century (3); nevertheless, few statistics exist on their health and nutrition profile (4,5). Young age, good health at the time of arrival in the United States, and use of aggregate national survey data have contributed to this lack of information (6).