Comparative study of diets and disease prevalence in Greek Chians part II Chian immigrants to Athens and to the United States

The study examined differences in Greek and Greek‐American diets and disease patterns related to migration within the Mediterranean and from the Mediterranean to the United States. Data reported here discuss changes in food patterns and health‐related characteristics of two populations, both originating from the Greek island of Chios, residing either in Athens, Greece, or urban centers in the United States. Food consumption and medical history questionnaires were mailed to 2652 Chians residing in Athens, New York, and the San Francisco Bay region of California. A total of 381 usable responses were obtained; 79% of both the Chian Greek and the Chian Greek American sample were first generation emigrants. Food consumption data were analyzed as monthly frequencies of 49 food items and categories using factor analysis and discriminate analysis. Associations between location of residence and disease prevalence were examined using maximum‐likelihood logit analysis; results were controlled for age, Body Mass Index, physical activity, smoking habit, and socio‐economic status. After controlling for these potential confounders, as well as for presence of the conditions of elevated serum cholesterol, hypertension, and diabetes, Chian American men were identified at higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than their Athenian counterparts (p < 0.06). This difference in risk for CVD may be related to more frequent use of oils and fats other than olive oil, and less frequent use of olive oil. Among women, diabetes exhibited a positive association with Chian women residing in Athens (p < 0.09), which may be explained by a less frequent use of foods rich in complex carbohydrates by Athenian women than by their American counterparts.

Key words:

• Acculturation
• cardiovascular disease
• diabetes
• food patterns
• Greek
• Greek American
• mediterranean diet
• nutritional geography

Notes

This work was supported in part by a Cooperative Agreement between the University of California, Davis, Department of Nutrition, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Western Regional Laboratory, San Francisco.

Corresponding author. Tel.: [530] 752–2078. Fax: [530] 752–8966. E‐mail: [email protected].