Nutrition and Oral Medicine (Nutrition and Health)

54 Part I / Nutrition and Healthian dietary practices that make intake of animal tissue, fish, and seafood taboo. Fermenteddairy products, such as yogurt, are a common source of protein that is consumedalmost daily in the traditional Indian diet.The southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Laos haveculinary influences of China and France, Spain, and other European countries (2). Flavoringsand seasonings range from hot and spicy in the Thai diet, which uses a varietyof chilies and curries, to relatively mild in the Cambodian diet. Dairy products are notconsumed in high amounts in the traditional diets.4.4.1. NUTRITION AND HEALTH ISSUES RELATED TO ASIAN INFLUENCESSimilar to other cultural groups, change in dietary patterns occurs in Chinese andChinese Americans with increasing length of stay in the new country and with shifts tomore “Americanized” diets (46). Wu et al. found tofu intake in Asian American womento be twice that of American women (62 times compared to 30 times per year) (47). Othershifts in eating patterns are noteworthy for increased intakes of soft drinks. Parallel to thechanges in eating patterns, nutrient quality of the diet also changes. The traditionalChinese diet is low in fat and dairy, and high in complex carbohydrates and sodium.However, Chinese descendants report a shift to higher fat, protein, sugar, and cholesterolintakes with increasing length of time in the United States (48).Other health concerns of Chinese Americans include lactose intolerance and increasingrates of colorectal and breast cancers compared to rates in China (48,49). Asian Americanwomen have been noted to have lower rates of breast cancer compared to those of theoverall American population but higher than those of native Asian women (23,50). Obesity,CVD, infant mortality, and hypertension rates have been reported to be lower inpopulations of Chinese Americans. Baseline 1996 Healthy People 2010 objectives notedthe IMR was lower for the Asian population than total IMR of 7.2 per 1000 live births (23).The traditional Japanese diet is low in fat and cholesterol and higher in sodium andsmoked or cured foods. When Kudo studied second- and third-generation JapaneseAmerican women, second-generation women reported consuming more total meats, fish,vegetables, and legumes than third-generation women, who reported consuming moreAmerican-type snack foods, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages (51,52).Traditional Japanese have experienced higher rates of hypertension, cerebrovascularaccidents (CVA), and stomach cancer, and lower IMR, colorectal and breast cancer, andCVD. Increased rates of certain cancers and T2DM have been associated with adoptionof Western diets (53). Lauderdale et al. reported that Asian American women have lowerbone density and more osteoporosis, although fewer hip fractures, than white women inthe United States (54). Both colorectal and gastric cancer have increased dramatically inJapanese migrants to the United States (55), but rates have not been as high as the rates forthose in Japan (56). The Japanese American population has a higher prevalence of T2DMthan Japanese living in Japan (57–59).Korean Americans experience a disproportionately higher incidence of stomach cancercompared to the total US population (60). Dietary etiological factors including frequentconsumption of salted and fermented fish products, nitrates, sodium, and hot andspicy foods are thought to be related. Hypertension and hyperlipidemia have been foundto be lower in Korean Americans (61).