This study found that the age, sex-adjusted prevalence of diabetes and IFG in Ho Chi Minh City were 3.8 and 2.5%, respectively, a rapid increase in the recent decade. Our study also indicates that ageing, a high WHR level, overweight and a sedentary lifestyle may be important determinants of the increased prevalence of diabetes during this transition period in Vietnam.

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This food frequency questionnaire measured the usual intake of major nutrients for Vietnamese adults living in Ho Chi Minh City and its urban area, where dietary patterns are similar to those of the Vietnamese population.

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The nutritional status of middle-aged Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City was characterized by undernutrition in 35% of the low-income population and by overnutrition in 18% the high-income population. Undenutrition was still a public health problem in the rural area whereas overnutrition started to become a noteworthy problem in the urban area. The suburban area suffered from both under- and overnutrition problems. Low lipid intake was the most important problem related to undernutrition in middle-aged residents of Ho Chi Minh City.

This study indicates that percent body fat and WHR are risk factors associated with diabetes even when the BMI is normal. Evolving dietary patterns with increasingly more protein and meat consumption may also contribute to the deterioration of glucose metabolism among Vietnamese people.

SummaryThe dietary habits and nutritional status of Vietnamese primary school girls were investigated using a cross-sectional survey. We interviewed 348 girls aged 7 to 9 yr old, randomly selected from three rural (n=193) and two urban (n=155) primary schools. The nutritional status of the children was evaluated by anthropometric and biochemical data. Dietary data were calculated based on the results of a 24-h recall interview carried out for three consecutive days. The dietary macronutrient pattern of the rural group showed a deficiency of energy, fat, animal protein, and fiber content. On the other hand, high animal protein ratio, deficiency of fiber consumption, low polyunsaturated fatty acid, and high sat urated fatty acid proportions were typically found in the urban group. A high number of rural children skipped lunches, resulting in low energy consumption; however, frequently skipped breakfast in the urban group did not influence total energy consumption because of extra meals taken. The mean height of rural children was 5.8cm less than that of their urban counterparts. In addition, 11.4% of wasted rural children needed emergency inter vention with energy supplementation. Moreover, a high proportion of children with a high atherogenic index (AI) (41.5%0) and low HDL cholesterol (40.9%) were found in the rural group. In contrast, a tendency toward obesity, high cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and high AT was observed in a proportion of the urban children (5.2%, 15.5 %, 12.3%, and 2 9.0%, respectively).

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is understood to play a regulatory role in HDL cholesterol (HDLC) metabolism. In this study, the effect of CETP genotypes on plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels in 348 Vietnamese girls (aged 7-9) with different nutritional conditions was analyzed. The two mutations, intron 14 G(ϩ1)-to-A (I14A) and Asp 442 to Gly within exon 15 (D442G), and the TaqIB polymorphism in the CETP gene were identified by an Invader assay. The D442G mutation was present with a frequency of 0.034, while the I14A mutation was absent. HDLC levels were significantly higher in carriers of the D442G mutation than in noncarriers, regardless of the nutritional status. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not significantly lower in carriers of D442G mutation.The frequency of the TaqIB2 allele was 0.34, which was lower than that observed in other Asian populations. TaqIB2B2 carriers also had significantly higher HDLC levels, but this association was weaker than that of the D442G mutation. Overall, genetic variations at the CETP gene locus may account for a significant proportion of HDLC variation in Vietnamese children. HDLC levels in plasma may be altered by a variety of environmental factors including alcohol consumption, a low fat diet, obesity, smoking, and exercise (1). In the general population, about 50% of plasma HDLC variability derives from genetic factors (2). CETP is a plasma glycoprotein that transfers cholesterol ester from HDLC to triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins and regulates plasma HDLC levels (3,4). Two CETP gene mutations, an intron 14 G(ϩ1)-to-A mutation (I14A) and a missense mutation, Asp442 to Gly within exon 15 (D442G), first described in Japanese population, were found to be associated with a CETP deficiency and increased HDLC levels (5,6). In addition, several common restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) have also been reported in the CETP gene locus (7-9). The most studied RFLP to date has been TaqIB, which has been shown to be a silent base change affecting the 277th nucleotide in the first intron of the gene. The B2 allele (in which the TaqIB restriction site is absent) at this polymorphic site has been associated with increased HDLC levels and decreased CETP activities and levels in normolipemic subjects, thus resembling a mild form of CETP deficiency (10 -12). The risk of coronary artery disease is inversely related to plasma HDLC levels. Therefore, identification of the underlying genetic basis of plasma HDLC levels is key to the understanding of atherosclerosis-related diseases, which are among the 10 leading mortality causes in Vietnam (13). The aim of this study was to determine the importance of genetic variants in the CETP gene to predict the HDLC levels for the Vietnamese children under different nutritional statuses. METHODSStudy subjects. The study subjects included 348 schoolgirls, aged 7 to 9 y old, who were randomly selected from two schools in the center of Hochiminh city (an urban area) and three schools in the su...