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Americanized Diet Raises Cardio Risk for Asian Immigrants

A multigenerational study of Asian immigrant families in southern California suggests that adopting an American diet eventually takes its toll by increasing cardiovascular risk.

At the Scientific Assembly and Exposition of the American Academy of Family Physicians, held September 28–October 1 in San Francisco, Miriam Schwartz, MD, presented research conducted with family medicine colleagues at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

The group surveyed 142 people of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean origin living in the Los Angeles area. Fifty of the participants were young, an aver-age of 22–23 years old, while the remainder were adults, an average of 58–62 years old. Participants provided a detailed dietary history, underwent a physical examination, and had blood drawn for laboratory studies.

Schwartz says that younger participants more acculturated to the American diet and lifestyle had a riskier cardiovascular profile than older people, who tended to stay with traditional habits.

Younger Asians tended to be heavier, with a greater body mass index (BMI) and less healthy levels of triglycerides. "Their atherogenic potential really went up," Schwartz says.

The traditional Asian diet is typically lower in fat and iron, is higher in carbohydrates, and has moderate amounts of protein compared with a traditional American diet, according to the group. Schwartz says an increasing number of Asian youths are adopting a diet higher in fat and cholesterol and lower in fiber than that of their older counterparts.

Younger participants tended to eat less ethnic food, consume more sugary juices and drinks, and eat out more often than older people, according to researchers.

"We hope to make [Asian youths] aware of the effects of deviating from healthy cooking," Schwartz says.

Asians are the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in some parts of the U.S. During 1980–1990 in Los Angeles County, the Asian population nearly doubled, from 299,604 to 582,794, according to the researchers.

Research has shown the unhealthful effects of adopting an Americanized diet among other ethnic groups, notably Hispanics. Schwartz says her group's findings are among the first to show similar results in an Asian population.

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Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goldfarb, B. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Goldfarb, B. Social Bookmarking                What's this?