Nutrition issues among Filipino-Americans in Union City California

Objective: To describe lifestyle behaviors and identify determinants that lead to obesity and associated disease in a community based sample of Filipino-Americans. Background: The greater prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease among Filipinos compared to other Asian Americans correlates with a higher body mass index (BMI). Methods: Surveys to evaluate health access and behaviors were administered to 328 Filipino-Americans at churches and commercial venues in a Northern California city. Findings: Respondents claimed high nutritional awareness, where 52% ‘always' or ‘often' read nutritional labels, and nutritional data influenced purchasing decisions for 71%. However, one-third (38%) ‘always' or ‘often' fried their food, 60% consumed fast food 1-3 times per week, and 4-14 times by another 15%. A food frequency analysis showed 40% of favored dishes were meat/poultry, followed by seafood for 20%, carbohydrates for 17% and vegetables for 14%. Half were overweight (38%, BMI: 25-29 kg/m2) or obese (11%, BMI>=30 kg/m2), although 51% reported exercise 3 times/week. Current smoking (9%) and habitual alcohol intake (6%) were low. Multivariable analysis showed infrequent exercise and lower education were independently associated with obesity, after adjusting for age, years in the US, cooking methods and reading nutritional labels. Conclusion: Despite claiming high awareness of nutrition, Filipino-Americans in the study were 50% overweight, or obese due to food preferences, i.e. a meat dominant diet, eating habits and other lifestyle behaviors.