Abstract

The distinct Tibetan regional diet is strongly influenced by the regional biogeography, indigenous traditions, popular religious beliefs and food taboos. In the context of the nutritional transition in Tibet, studies seldom report on the food consumption and dietary patterns of Tibetan residents. This is a cross-section study of 552 local adults (≥18 years old, 277 men and 275 women) living in 14 agricultural countries along the Yarlung Tsangpo River. Dietary intakes were assessed by a culturally specific FFQ and compared with the Chinese Dietary Pagoda (2016). Dietary Patterns were extracted by using PCA method. The binary logistic regression model was applied to assess the association between independent variables (genders, regions and age groups) and adherence to dietary patterns. With the exception of meat (100 ± 260 g/day) and soybean nuts (42 ± 12 g/day), which exceeded the recommended dietary intakes of CDP, the dietary intake of other foods were not up to the recommended value. In particular, the intake of aquatic products (2 ± 0.1 g/day), vegetables (90 ± 19 g/day), dairy products (114 ± 29 g/day), cereals (117 ± 27 g/day) and fruits (97 ± 25 g/day) were seriously inadequate, which were 95%, 70%, 62%, 53.2% and 51.5% lower than the recommended intakes, respectively. Four dietary patterns were identified. “Local traditional diet” was characterized by a high intake of tsampa (roasted highland barley flour), culturally specific beverages (sweet tea and yak buttered tea), potato and yak beef and was associated with female, rural and older adults (≥51 years old). The male, urban and 18~30 years old group had a higher adherence score with the “Han diet”, which was comprised of rice, pork, dumplings, eggs, milk and cabbage. The “Beverage diet”, which mainly include tsampa, chang (homemade barley wine) and sweet tea, was associated with the following group: female, urban and aged 18~30 years. The “Out-sourced diet” pattern, consisting of mainly rice, steam bread and some processed meat, was associated with being male, urban and 18–30 years of age. These findings indicate that the dietary practice of the Tibetan people still has strong local characteristics, but it is also undergoing a dietary transition with the penetration of the Chinese Han diet and the increased consumption of outsourced (processed) foods. The unbalanced dietary intake of Tibetan residents should be taken seriously by all parties.

Highlights

  • Numerous epidemiological studies provide evidence that there is a definite association between regional chronic disease and dietary patterns [1,2]

  • A total of 552 local Tibetan adults were included in the food survey with 277 (50.2%)

  • All the subjects were divided into three age groups, which are 18~30 years old (n = 172, 30.6%), 31~50 years old (n = 230, 40.9%) and >51 years old (n = 160, 28.5%)

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Summary

Introduction

Numerous epidemiological studies provide evidence that there is a definite association between regional chronic disease and dietary patterns [1,2]. Dietary patterns use the FFQ and food intake data to identify the type of foods that are significant for a disease [1,2] or a specific group of people [5,6]. Compared with the traditional analysis of single food or nutrients, dietary pattern analysis has been identified as a more comprehensive method to characterize diet [1] and it can offer a broader picture of food consumption, reflect a more realistic dietary habit and provide some practical approaches to disease prevention. It is of great significance to carry out the survey of food consumption and food source in remote areas to balance the dietary gap between different regions

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