Dietary and Disease Patterns among Micronesians

Abstract

Dietary data were obtained from 379 native adults of the Mariana and Caroline Islands during an epidemiologic study of the health effects of sociocultural discontinuity among 1,372 Micronesians. A 24-hr dietary recall method was used to estimate the mean intakes of total calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrate, of saturated and polyunsaturated fats, as well as major nutrient sources. Information concerning illness characteristics was obtained by interview and by physical and laboratory examinations. There was a stepwise increase in the intakes of total calories and carbohydrate from California, to Guam, to Rota. Palau values were closer to those of Rota than those of Guam or California. The opposite pattern occurred for intakes of total and saturated fats. Total fat comprised about 40% of calories in California, compared to 20% in Palau. Protein intakes were similar among all groups. Most of the illness characteristics and laboratory values showed no meaningful association with the dietary patterns. The exceptions were related to cardiovascular risk factors. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, history of myocardial infarction, and class I ECG abnormalities showed the same geographic distribution as did the intake of total and saturated fats, increasing progressively from the traditional to the Westernized areas.