Dietary Habits of Asian Indians in Relation to Length of Residence in the United States

Cultural sensitivity among dietetics professionals requires a knowledge of ethnic dietary practices to assist in effective nutrition counseling and planning ( (1) Terry R.D. Needed a new appreciation of culture and food behavior. J Am Diet Assoc. 1994; 94: 501-503 Google Scholar ). Since 1965, more than 800,000 Asian Indians have settled in the United States as students or technical or business professionals, along with their dependents ( (2) Statistical Abstract of the United States. 114th ed. US Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC1994 Google Scholar ). Their numbers are expected to reach the million mark by the turn of the century ( (3) Lee T. Trapped on a pedestal. Dollars and Sense. 1990; 154: 12-15 Google Scholar ); nevertheless, few statistics exist on their health and nutrition profile ( (4) Yagalla M.V. Hoerr S.L. Song W.O. Enas E. Garg A. Relationship of diet, abdominal obesity, and physical activity to plasma lipoprotein levels in Asian Indian physicians residing in the US. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96: 257-261 Google Scholar , (5) Kamath S.K. Ravishankar C. Briones E. Chen E.H. Macronutrient intake and blood cholesterol level of a community of Asian Indians living in the United States. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997; 97 (299-230) Google Scholar ). Young age, good health at the time of arrival in the United States, and use of aggregate national survey data have contributed to this lack of information ( (6) Pitchumani C.S. Saran P. Health and medical care of Indian immigrants in the United States. in: Paramatma S. Eames E. The New Ethnics: The Asian Indian Experience. Praeger Publishers, New York, NY1980 Google Scholar ). ErrataJournal of the American Dietetic AssociationVol. 100Issue 4Preview Full-Text PDF