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Kim, Yi, Kang, Kang, Lee, Kim, Hansana, and Kim: Comparison of dietary behavior, changes of diet, and food intake between 40~59 years old subjects living in urban and rural areas in Lao PDR
Research Article

Journal of Nutrition and Health 2016; 49(2): 111-124.

Published online: 30 April 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2016.49.2.111

Comparison of dietary behavior, changes of diet, and food intake between 40~59 years old subjects living in urban and rural areas in Lao PDR

Ji Yeon Kim1, Kyungock Yi2, Minah Kang3, Younhee Kang4, Gunjeong Lee5, Harris Hyun-soo Kim6, Visanou Hansana7, Yuri Kim1, 8

1Department of Clinical Nutrition, The Graduate School of Clinical Health Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

2Division of Human Movement Studies, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

3Department of Public Administrations, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

4College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

5Department of Global Health and Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

6Department of Sociology, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

7Faculty of Postdoctoral Studies, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane Capital City, Lao PDR.

8Department of Nutritional Science and Food Management, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea.

To whom correspondence should be addressed. tel: +82-2-3277-4485, yuri.kim@ewha.ac.kr

Received 13 March 2016       Revised 28 March 2016       Accepted 29 March 2016

© 2016 The Korean Nutrition Society

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The current study was conducted for evaluation and comparison of dietary behavior and food intake in different regions of Lao PDR.

Methods

The survey was conducted on 979 people aged 40~59 years old living in 25 urban provinces and 25 rural provinces in four districts (VTE Capital-Chanthabuly, Xaysetha, VTE Province-Phonhong, and Thoulakhom) of Laos. General demographic information, health status, and dietary behavior were surveyed using a questionnaire.

Results

The literacy ratio (p = 0.000), education level (p = 0.000), asset ownership level (p = 0.000), and government and private employee ratio (p = 0.000) were higher in urban subjects compared with rural subjects. The mean value of weight (p = 0.000), waist circumference (p = 0.000), and diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.009) and alcohol consumption (p = 0.000), self-rated health status (p = 0.001), and the rate of obesity (p = 0.000) were significantly higher in urban subjects compared with rural subjects. However, the rate of current smoker was significantly higher in the rural group (p = 0.023). Meals are becoming more westernized by higher frequency of eating out, consumption of fatty meat and fried or stir-fried food in urban areas compared to rural areas. Urban subjects had relatively better balanced meals compared to rural subjects whereas they consumed insufficient meals per day and consumed meals irregularly compared to rural subjects. Intake of fruit and milk was significantly higher in urban subjects compared with rural subjects. However, the intake of vegetables was significantly higher in rural areas than urban areas.

Conclusion

The result of this study showed that the traditional Lao diet is being replaced by an unhealthy western dietary pattern, which may be a risk factor for increasing development of non-communicable disease (NCD) in Lao PDR. Planning of proper personalized nutritional intervention and education in each area is needed to decrease the health risks of NCD.

Keywords: dietary behavior, westernization, non-communicable diseases, Lao PDR

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General characteristics of study subjects

jnh-49-111-i001

1) Mean ± SD 2) p value for t-test by each variable 3) N (%) 4) p value for chi-square test by each variable 5) Item ownership is assessed by possessing electricity, radio, tape recorder, television, telephone, car, motorcycle, bicycle, refrigerator, gas stove, electric stove, or flush toilet. 6) Unpaid includes volunteer, homemaker, retired, and unemployed. Self-employed includes farmer, fisherman, and merchant. Employee includes government employee and private employee.

Table 2

Health related factors of study subjects

jnh-49-111-i002

1) Classified by world health organization (WHO) and international society of hypertension (ISH) guidelines 2) Mean ± SD 3) p value for t-test by each variable 4) N (%) 5) p value for chi-square test by each variable 6) Classified by international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ)

Table 3

Anthropometric assessments of the subjects

jnh-49-111-i003

1) Mean ± SD 2) p value for t-test by each variable 3) BMI; body mass index 4) Classified according to WHO and international association for the study of obesity (IASO) asia-pacific regions obesity classification 5) N (%) 6) p value for chi-square test by each variable

Table 4

Dietary behavior of the subjects

jnh-49-111-i004

1) N (%) 2) p value for chi-square test by each variable

Table 5

Recent changes of dietary behaviors of the subjects

jnh-49-111-i005

1) N (%) 2) p value for chi-square test by each variable 3) Only for participants who answered 'Yes' for question no 1 Dietary habits changed during the last three years (n = 147). 4) Only for participants who answered 'Yes' for question no 2 Want to change dietary habits (n = 122).

*Missing values were 3 in 1.1, 11 in 1.2, 5 in 1.3, 5 in 1.4, and 5 in 1.5. **Missing values were 1 in 2.1 and 2 in 2.2.

Table 6

The mini dietary assessment index score of the subjects1)

jnh-49-111-i006

1) Minimum & maximum score for each question is 1 ~ 5 and that for total score is 10 ~ 50 (1 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 5 = usually). 2) Mean ± SD 3) p value for t-test by each variable 4) Reverse coding: 1 = usually, 3 = sometimes, 5 = seldom.

Table 7

Food intake frequency of each food group of the subjects

jnh-49-111-i007

1) N (%) 2) p value for chi-square test by each variable

Notes

This work was supported by Academic Partnership Program funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency in 2015 (KOICA-2015224).

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