Healthy People 2010 is a national agenda promoting the health of America. One of the key objectives is to eliminate health disparities across ethnic and racial subgroups in the U.S. Few studies have been conducted to examine birthplace-related differences in diet of Mexican heritage youth. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether food patterns differ by birthplace and sex in youth of Mexican heritage aged 12-19 years.
Method
Participants were 109 youth (47 boys, 62 girls, M ± SD age of 14.8 ± 1.4 yrs). Approximately, 61% of the participants were U.S.-born and 39% were Mexico-born. The food patterns in this present study were assessed using the Women's Health Across the Nation Spanish food frequency questionnaire (the SWAN Spanish FFQ). The SWAN Spanish FFQ lists 103 core foods and food groups and 9 additional foods suitable to Hispanics. The participants were asked to complete their food patterns from the past month through paper and pencil self-administration. Independent t-tests were used to examine food pattern differences by birthplace and sex.
Analysis/Results
No significant birthplace-related differences were found in daily servings of vegetables, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, meat, fish, poultry, beans, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, and daily frequency of fats, oils, sweets and snacks between the groups. However, we observed that the U.S.- born youth consumed more daily frequency of fruits and fruit juices consumption, on average, than their Mexico-born counterparts (0.8 ± 0.5 vs. 1.2 ± 0.8, p = 0.005). By contrast to birthplace, sex difference was found to be significant, showing that male youth consumed more daily servings of meat, fish, poultry, beans, and eggs , on average, than female youth (2.5 ± 2.3 vs. 1.7 ± 1.4, p = 0.037). Although we found no significant birthplace-related differences between the groups on the food patterns, significant differences were observed by the years of U.S. residency. Mexico-born youth with less than 5years of U.S. residency consumed less daily servings of meat, fish, poultry, beans and eggs, and daily frequency of fat, oils, sweets and snacks than their U.S.-born counterparts.
Conclusions
Mexico-born youth initially eat fewer meats, fats and sweets; however, they appear to adopt dietary patterns similar to U.S. born Mexican youth within 5 years. Relatively few studies have been designed and published to address specific birthplace differences. More research is needed to better understand birthplace as a predictor in food patterns in youth of Mexican heritage.
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