Exploring Foods of the Pacific: Cultural Food Identity in the US Affiliated Pacific Region.

Indigenous peoples of the Pacific have seen major shifts in dietary patterns due to foreign colonization, which introduced an array of new foods. Today, foods considered traditional and acculturated are consumed in various extents. However, the definitions and identity of traditional versus acculturated foods has become unclear as many introduced foods have been incorporated into Pacific cultures.

Consumption of Traditional Fruits and Vegetables among Children in the US-Affiliated Pacific Region.

Background: Traditional Pacific diets have many health benefits, including maintenance of a healthy weight and prevention of various diseases. Few studies have evaluated the frequency at which traditional diets are consumed in the Pacific, especially among children.

Objectives: This study examined the frequency of traditional and acculturated fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake among children in the US-affiliated Pacific (USAP) region.

A Dietary Supplement Frequency Questionnaire Correctly Ranks Nutrient Intakes in US Older Adults When Compared to a Comprehensive Dietary Supplement Inventory.

Background: Dietary supplements are commonly taken by adults in the United States and can contribute substantially to daily nutrient intakes. Short supplement-use questionnaires are often used in dietary surveys, but their accuracy has not been well studied.

Objectives: The primary objective was to evaluate the accuracy of a short, self-administered supplement frequency questionnaire (SFQ) relative to a comprehensive 1-y inventory of supplement use.

Utility of self-rated adherence for monitoring dietary and physical activity compliance and assessment of participant feedback of the Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Study pilot.

Background: We examined the utility of self-rated adherence to dietary and physical activity (PA) prescriptions as a method to monitor intervention compliance and facilitate goal setting during the Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Study (HDLS). In addition, we assessed participants' feedback of HDLS. HDLS is a randomized pilot intervention that compared the effect of intermittent energy restriction combined with a Mediterranean diet (IER + MED) to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, with matching PA regimens, for reducing visceral adipose tissue area (VAT).

Effects of Intermittent Energy Restriction Combined with a Mediterranean Diet on Reducing Visceral Adiposity: A Randomized Active Comparator Pilot Study.

Intermittent energy restriction combined with a Mediterranean diet (IER+MED) has shown promise to reduce body fat and insulin resistance. In the Multiethnic Cohort Adiposity Phenotype Study, Japanese Americans had the highest visceral adipose tissue (VAT) when adjusting for total adiposity. We conducted this pilot study to demonstrate feasibility and explore efficacy of following IER+MED for 12 weeks to reduce VAT among East Asians in Hawaii.

Collecting wrappers, labels, and packages to enhance accuracy of food records among children 2-8 years in the Pacific region: Children's Healthy Living Program (CHL).

The aim was to describe differences in dietary outcomes based on the provision of food wrappers, labels or packages (WLP) to complement data from dietary records (DR) among children from the US Affiliated Pacific. The WLP were intended to aid food coding. Since WLP can be associated with ultra-processed foods, one might expect differences in sodium, sugar, and other added ingredients to emerge.

Dietary choline and betaine intakes vary in an adult multiethnic population.

Choline and betaine are important nutrients for human health, but reference food composition databases for these nutrients became available only recently. We tested the feasibility of using these databases to estimate dietary choline and betaine intakes among ethnically diverse adults who participated in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study. Of the food items (n = 965) used to quantify intakes for the MEC FFQ, 189 items were exactly matched with items in the USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods for total choline, choline-containing compounds, and betaine, and 547 items were matched to the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference for total choline (n = 547) and 148 for betaine.

Biomonitoring the cooked meat carcinogen 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine in hair: impact of exposure, hair pigmentation, and cytochrome P450 1A2 phenotype.

Background: Hair is a promising tissue to assess exposure to 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), a carcinogen formed in cooked meats. However, an understanding of how dietary exposure to PhIP, cytochrome P450 1A2 activity-a key enzyme involved in PhIP metabolism, and hair pigmentation affect the level of PhIP accrued in hair is required to determine the reliability of the PhIP hair level as a biomarker of exposure to this carcinogen.

Methods: We examined the impact of PhIP exposure, cytochrome P450 1A2 activity, and hair pigmentation on the levels of PhIP accumulated in the hair of volunteers on a 4-week semicontrolled diet of cooked meat containing known quantities of PhIP.

Differences by race/ethnicity in older adults' beliefs about the relative importance of dietary supplements vs prescription medications: results from the SURE Study.

Dietary supplement use is widespread among adults across races/ethnicities, yet reasons for use can vary across these groups. The Supplement Reporting (SURE) study quantified dietary supplement use and reasons for taking supplements in a multiethnic sample of adults who took at least one supplement. This study explored sociodemographic differences, including by race/ethnicity, associated with specific reasons/motivations for taking dietary supplements, including perceived importance of taking supplements relative to prescription medications.

Dietary supplement use within a multiethnic population as measured by a unique inventory method.

Use of dietary supplements is widespread, yet intakes from supplements are difficult to quantify. The Supplement Reporting study utilized a unique inventory method to quantify dietary supplement use across 1 year in a sample of 397 supplement users. Interviewers visited participants' homes in 2005-2006 to record supplement purchases and the number of pills in each supplement bottle every 3 months.

Development of a supplement composition database for the SURE Study.

The Supplement Reporting (SURE) study is one of the first to systematically examine the accuracy of collection of dietary supplement use data for population-based studies of diet. In 2005-2007, the SURE study collected data from 444 participants in Hawaii and Los Angeles. Several methods of collecting data were compared, including an inventory of supplements, a recall, a daily diary, and a one-page supplement frequency questionnaire.

Simple measures of dietary variety are associated with improved dietary quality.

The objective of this study was to identify a measure of dietary variety that was associated with improved dietary quality and easily understood by consumers. Dietary quality was measured by nutrient adequacy and intakes of added sugars, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. We developed four definitions of dietary variety: (a) a count of basic commodities consumed; (b) a count of food codes reported; (c) a count of five Food Guide Pyramid (FGP) food groups consumed; and (d) a count of 22 FGP subgroups consumed.