Dietary Change Among Hmong People and Cancer Risks

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Dietary Change Among Hmong People and Cancer Risks

• Eri Ito

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Purpose of the study The purpose of this
research project is to investigate dietary
changes among Hmong in the United States. I
compared dietary patterns of Hmong students at
Minnesota State University, Mankato to the
typical American diet. This is to find out if
this local population is engaging in the dietary
changes that are associated with accelerating
breast cancer rate among general Hmong population
in the U.S. I interviewed with some of the
subjects about their dietary patterns in the U.
S. and their home countries to observe if there
are any dietary changes in an individuals life
span. I acquired general medical dietary data
through library materials for comparison. This is
to compare this population with other Hmong
immigrants to the U.S. Results suggest that this
population may have increased risk of breast
cancer due to their dietary change.
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Research Methods
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1.    Participant Observation

• Get involved in the local Hmong community for one
  year

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2.    Food Diary

• Asked local Hmong community to keep two-week food
  diaries
• Collected 14 records
• Categorized the collected data into several food
  groups by their nutrient and cultural facts
• Classified the data into Hmong and US food groups

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3.    Food Sampling

• Selected 10 food samples for each Hmong and US
  food groups from the collected data by using
  Simple Random Sampling method
• Analyzed nutrient facts of the selected foods by
  using library materials

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4.    Interview

• Interviewed 13 local Hmong college students about
  their food habits
• Average interview took from thirty minutes to one
  hour

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5.    Data Analysis

• Compared the data to interviews with local Hmong
  community, medical doctors, and library materials

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Data from all food diariesTable 1-1
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U.S.-Born Hmong Food Diaries
Table 2-1
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U.S.-Born Hmong Food Chart Figure 1-1
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Laos- Thailand-Born Hmong Food Diaries
Table 2-2
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Total Laos- Thailand-Born Hmong Food Chart
Figure 1-2
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Food Samples Table 3-1
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Food Sample Graphs Table 4-1
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Conclusion   As you can see from the figures,
there are gradual transitions in their dietary
habits among this local population. While three
fourth of foods, which Laos and Thailand born
Hmong eat are more traditional, only half of the
foods, which US born Hmong eat are traditional
ones. Although the change is not so critical in
this local population, about 90 percent of the
informants agree with the more rapid cultural
disappearance among younger generations. One of
the informants told me that her younger brothers,
who are born in the U.S., do not eat rice
anymore, but eat more bread and highly processed
foods.
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For the food sampling result, I would say the
sample U.S. food group excesses the recommended
fat amounts. According to the Food Guide Pyramid
by United States Department of Agriculture and
Center for Nutrition and Promotion, the
recommended fat amounts in Americans diets are 30
percent of calories. Therefore, 57.3 gram of fat
in a 1737-calorie diet is the limit. However,
81.6 grams of fat is contained in the U.S. food
sample group. On the other hand, Hmong food
sample group contains 28.8 gram of fat, which is
about the recommended fat amounts (30.6 gram) in
918-calorie diet. Diet, which high in fat, is
not only the leading cause of hypertension or
diabetes, but also the leading cause of variety
of cancers. For example, one of the main causes
of breast cancer is obesity. The risk of becoming
breast cancer is 1.3 times higher among obese
people than other healthy people. The reasons for
this are considered as synthesis of female sex
hormones inside fat tissues. Still the breast
cancer rate is very low among Hmong population.
The more Hmong population eats U.S. food, the
more they might be exposed to the risk of
becoming particular cancers.