Objective: Acculturation to the UK diet may contribute to the increased burden of non-communicable diseases in Black British communities. The present study aimed to assess nutritional composition and the contribution that traditional foods make to dietary intake in a group of UK-residing Caribbean and West African adults and to explore differences according to ethnicity and duration of residence. Design: Observational study. Dietary intake was assessed using multiple, standardised triple-pass 24 h recalls and analysed using a nutritional composition database. Associations between sociodemographic variables and duration of residence with dietary intake were assessed using ANCOVA. Setting: London, UK, October 2011-December 2012. Subjects: UK adults of Caribbean (n 50) or West African (n 83) ancestry, aged 18-75 years. Results: The Caribbean participants were older and more likely to be born in the UK. After adjusting for age, sex and ethnicity, those who had been resident in the UK for the longest duration had significantly higher intakes of energy (P < 0·001), fat (P = 0·002) and Na (P = 0·03). The West African participants sourced significantly more energy (P = 0·04), fat (P = 0·02), saturated fat (P = 0·02) and Na (P = 0·001) from traditional cultural foods compared with the Caribbean diet, which was more reliant on 'Westernised' foods such as sugar-sweetened beverages. Conclusions: These results are novel in demonstrating dietary acculturation in UK adults of Caribbean and West African ancestry. We have provided detailed data regarding the role of traditional foods, presenting dietary information that may guide in individualising care for patients from these communities and improve the cultural sensitivity of public health strategies.

Background: People of Black African and Caribbean origin account for 25 % of the ethnic minority population in the UK (1) . The burden of hypertension, stroke and type 2 diabetes in these communities is considerable, with younger morbidity and mortality than the White British population (2) . Little is known of the dietary intakes of these communities, such knowledge is essential if culturally appropriate interventions are to be developed for the prevention and management of these diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional intake of African-Caribbean (AC) and West African (WA) adults living in the UK and to assess the importance of traditional foods to intake. Method: In a convenience sample multiple structured twenty four hour recalls were obtained and analysed using Dietplan6 (Forestfield Software Ltd) from healthy adults of AC (n = 18) and WA (n = 32) ethnicity living in the UK, and the contribution traditional foods make to dietary intake was assessed. Height and weight were also obtained, allowing body mass index (BMI) to be calculated and dietary recalls to be validated. Data was analysed using SPSS. Data are expressed as mean°SD when normally distributed or median and range when not of a normal distribution. Mean differences between groups were tested for significance using the unpaired t-test and Mann-Witney U-test. A p-value of £ 0.05 was considered significant. (Md 5.9, IQR 3.8, 8). Traditional foods were found to make a significantly greater contribution to energy (p = 0.020), carbohydrate (p < 0.001), fat (p = 0.021) and sodium (p < 0.001) intake in the diets of the WA group, who had also lived in the UK for a significantly shorter period of time (p < 0.001) than the AC group. Discussion: Our data show distinct differences in dietary intakes between AC and WA communities. There appears to be greater dietary acculturation in the AC community which may contribute to the onset of non-communicable diseases. We are the first to report dietary intakes of the WA community; further work is required to better understand the effects of diet in this group. Conclusion: This data suggests greater dietary acculturation in the AC community compared to the WA community in the UK. Differences in the dietary intakes between the two groups require the design and implementation of culturally appropriate lifestyle interventions for the prevention and management of NCD.