عنوان

Dietary practices of Iranian school children living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area

Number

TLpq304300193

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Dietary practices of Iranian school children living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

N. Roughani

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

J. S. J. A. A. Adkins

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Howard University

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

1996

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

127-127 p.

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

Howard University

Text preceding or following the note

1996

Text of Note

One hundred US-born Iranian children and one hundred Iran-born children ages 8-13 years volunteered to participate in the cross-sectional study to compare their dietary practices. The subjects were selected by accidental sampling through friends, acquaintances, and referrals in the Iranian community. Only one parent of each child, the mother, was included in the study. A questionnaire was designed and divided into two parts: one for the child and the other for the mother. The child's interview schedule was developed to obtain socio-demographic information, meal pattern, food practices, and television viewing as related to food advertising. The mother's interview schedule was developed to obtain socio-demographic information, availability of Iranian food in the market place, and serving of foods recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid. The investigator administered the questionnaire through personal interview. The investigator also administered a test to assess the childrens' and the mothers' nutrition knowledge. A three-day dietary record and food frequency intake were used. The data were analyzed by computer using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSSx). The results of the study revealed that the majority of participants (74.5%) were female. Most of the children ate breakfast and dinner at home while the noon meal was eaten at school. The mothers indicated that the number of servings of foods recommended in the Food Guide Pyramid was included in their childrens' daily meals. However, this was not supported by the three-day dietary record. The score on the nutrition knowledge test was significantly higher (44.6 20.3 vs. 37.9 20.0) for US-born Iranian children (P <.01). The mean weight for height was slightly lower for Iran-born children than US-born Iranian children. A significant correlation was found between the nutrition knowledge of the mothers and the children's nutrient intake of potassium (P <.05). There was a significant correlation between the number of years living in the U.S. and consumption of hamburger, luncheon meat, ice cream, and green beans (P <.01). The consumption of some Iranian foods, including Abgusht, Yogurt, Yogurt drink (Dugh), Lavash Bread, and jam was significantly higher among US-born Iranian children (P <.05). Diets were evaluated for energy and 16 nutrients using the three-day dietary record and food frequency data. Percentages of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) were computed for energy and 12 nutrients. The author considered a diet low with respect to a certain nutrient if it contained less than 66.7% of the RDA for that nutrient. From the two groups, US-born Iranian children had the highest number of individuals whose nutrient intakes most often exceeded two-thirds of the RDA for that nutrient. The intakes of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B-12, iron, and zinc were significantly higher for the US-born Iranian children. The mean of food energy (74.0 10.2 vs. 69.0 8.2) of US-born Iranian children was significantly higher than Iran-born children (P <.05). The intake of ascorbic acid was significantly higher (P <.05) among Iran-born children. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Health and environmental sciences

Minority & ethnic groups

Nutrition

Social sciences

Sociology

Washington, D.C.@

J. S. J. A. A. Adkins

N. Roughani

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

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