Omega‐3 fatty acid food intakes of urban Midwestern Latino women

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to document on omega‐3 fatty acids (ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA) food intakes of urban Midwestern Latino women as part of the validation of a culturally appropriate food frequency questionnaire to measure omega‐3 fatty acid food intakes in this population. Fifty apparently healthy Latino women, aged 20 to 50 y, who were not pregnant or lactating at the time of the study, born in a Latin American country and living in an urban Midwestern city served as participants. The women were interviewed to complete a sociodemographic and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) containing 194 items. The FFQ developed from one‐on‐one interviews included 14 prepared ethnic dishes. Fifty two percent of the women were in the 20 to 30 y range, 58% were born in Mexico, 42% had high school education or less, 88% reported Spanish to be the language spoken at home, and 52% had lived in the U.S. from 0 to 5 years. Daily ALA, EPA, DPA, DHA and total omega‐3 intake (mean ± SD) in grams of the participants were 1.87 ± 0.94, 0.05 ± 0.04, 0.02 ± 0.02, 0.10 ± 0.08, and 2.04 ± 1.02 respectively. Principal omega‐3 food sources were beef, tacos dorados, vegetable oil, walnuts, canola oil, mayonnaise and salmon. Daily ALA and total omega‐3 intake were negatively correlated with age, daily EPA intake was positively correlated with household income, and daily DPA intake was positively correlated with language spoken at home (P<0.05). Daily DPA and DHA intake were positively correlated with household income (P<0.01). These Latino women had higher mean intake than the Adequate Intake for ALA for women >19 y. Household income, an indicator of socioeconomic status, was related to intake of EPA, DPA and DHA. Supported by Tobacco Funds.