P72 - Investigating Dietary and Physical Activity Patterns Among Hmong American Youth: A Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): While obesity and type-2 diabetes rates have risen among Hmong, limited research has investigated their nutritional status. It is important to investigate Hmong dietary and physical activity patterns so that timely nutritional interventions may be planned. Objective: We investigated the factors that influence dietary and physical activity patterns among Hmong American youth (14-25-year-olds) in the Sacramento region. Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: Eight focus groups (n = 44) were conducted. Each focus group lasted for 60–90 minutes with 4 to 7 youth per group. Participants completed a brief questionnaire regarding smoking, alcohol, and dietary and physical activity behaviors adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Surveillance Survey. Focus groups were audio taped and transcribed verbatim; transcriptions were analyzed for themes and discrepancies were noted and resolved. Outcome Measures and Analysis: Descriptive data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software (version 24). Significance level was set at P < .05. Results: Twenty-nine female and 15 male youth participated in the study, mean (±SD) age was 19 ± 3 years. Most youth (84%) were born in the United States, seven (16%) were born in either Laos or Thailand. Questionnaire results indicated that 26% of youth reported eating fried foods 4–6 times during the past week. Furthermore, 51% did not eat green salad and 14% did not consume any fruit during the past week. Focus group data suggested that preference for culturally familiar foods made youth's intake of vegetables challenging. While parental influences negatively influenced female youth's physical activity patterns, cultural expectations to fit in appeared to affect male youth's alcohol consumption. Conclusions and Implications: Cultural factors affected the youths' health and well-being. Future nutrition intervention among Hmong youth is recommended to be culturally-specific with an understanding of parental influences and/or culturally-driven barriers to healthy living. More data with a larger sample size is needed to gain an understanding about Hmong health in this region. Funding: Probationary Faculty Development Grant Program at the California State University, Sacramento.