Dietary patterns among adult Uyghur residents in Xinjiang

Objective To examine nutritional status and dietary patterns among adult Uyghur residents in Kashi region of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region(Xinjiang).Methods Using multi-stage random cluster sampling,we surveyed 1 193 adult Uyghur residents aged 18 years and over in 6 villages and 2 urban communities in Kashi region of Xinjiang with 24-hour dietary recall for 3 consecutive days and food weighing method to collect information on dietary intake during May and June 2013.We performed factor analysis to establish dietary patterns among the residents.Results Four main dietary patterns (namely traditional model,western style,meat type,and Uygur specific dietary pattern) were identified and the traditional model was a main dietary pattern among the adult residents.Gender and regional differences in dietary pattern were observed among the residents;more male residents had a higher synthetical score of dietary pattern factors,while more female residents had a lower synthetical score;the elderly residents mainly had traditional and western style food pattern,but the middle aged and young residents mainly had meat type and Uygur specific dietary pattern.The urban residents tended to choose the western style and the meat type diet,while the rural residents tended to have the traditional dietary pattern.Close correlations were observed between traditional dietary pattern and dietary fiber intake (r=0.487) and between meat dietary pattern and protein intake (r=0.907)Conclusion The adult Uyghur residents in Xinjiang have a generally unbalanced dietary pattern with excessive intakes of wheaten food,meat,salt,and oil but insufficient intakes of cereal,fish,poultry,soybean products,egg,and milk.