Dietary Sources and Determinants of Soy Isoflavone Intake among Midlife Chinese Women in Hong Kong

Abstract

The dietary sources, intake levels, and determinants of soy isoflavone intake were examined using 3217 dietary recalls (DR) collected from 141 Hong Kong Chinese women aged 50–61 y. Multiple-pass 24-h DR were administered by phone by trained interviewers on 23 random, nonconsecutive days to participants over a 12-mo period from 2001 to 2002. We calculated isoflavone intake using analytical values in the Chinese University of Hong Kong Soy Isoflavone Database. Results indicated that the daily intake of total isoflavones was 7.8 ± 5.6 mg in the study population. Non-Cantonese women had a higher intake of 10.7 ± 7.6 mg compared with 7.3 ± 5.0 mg in Cantonese women (P = 0.04). Altogether, 22 foods contributed ∼90% of the total isoflavone intake. Soft tofu alone accounted for ∼21% of the isoflavone intake, followed by bean curd skin (7.1%), name-brand soybean milk (6.3%), homemade soybean milk (6.2%), and generic soybean milk (5.8%). Combined, these 5 food items contributed 46% of the total dietary isoflavones. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated dialect group, self-reported health, and age group were significant independent predictors of soy isoflavone consumption. The data provide the basis for elucidating the patterns, determinants, and assessment of dietary soy isoflavone intake in Asian women.