Nutrient intake of adult women in Jilin province, China, with special reference to urban–rural differences in nutrition in the Chinese continent

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate possible urban ± rural differences in food intakes in Jilin province and in continental China as a whole, and to examine possible implications for nutritional status of urban and rural populations. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Communities. Subjects: In total, 499 adult women in six urban sites and four rural sites, 10 sites in total, including two sites in Jilin province. Methods: A pair of surveys were conducted in September, 1999, in the provincial capital of Changchun and a farming village in Dehui county, both in Jilin province, in northeast China. Each of 50 adult women per survey site provided a 24 h duplicate food sample and a blood sample, and had an interview on health history including anthropometry and blood pressure measurement. Nutrient intakes were estimated from the food duplicates, using national food composition tables. Results from the two sites were supplemented with data from eight sites where surveys had been conducted following the same protocol, and the pooled material were subjected to analyses for possible urban ± rural differences. Results: The Jilin participants consumed daily, on average, about 1600 kcal energy, 44 g protein, and 60 g lipid with a lipid energy ratio (ie the ratio of lipid over total nutrients in terms of energy) of 33%. When nutrient intakes were compared between the urban (ie Changchun) and rural (Dehui) groups, urban women consumed more energy, protein (especially animal protein) and lipid than rural women. Similar examination of data from six urban and four rural sites, including the present two, showed that adult women in urban areas eat more animal protein and animal fat than their counterparts in villages, and suggested that the observation on urban ± rural difference in Jilin province can be extrapolated to a nationwide scale. Conclusions: Urban ± rural differences in nutrient intakes still persist in 1999 not only in Jilin but in other provinces, typically in the terms of intakes of animal-based foods.

Dietary Intake and Food Habits of Pregnant Women Residing in Urban and Rural Areas of Deyang City, Sichuan Province, China

“…The dietary intake of most micronutrients was more or less deficient in both study sites but low intake was more pronounced in rural than in urban areas. The observed trend of higher intakes among urban mothers is not holistically reflected by the 2002 NNHS of pregnant women [50] but is, however, widely mirrored by data of the 1992 and 2002 NNHS including individuals of all ages [20] and is clearly evident in the data on adult women in Jilin province [21]. In summary, apart from fat intake, urban women had more nutritious and diversified diets than rural women in this study.…”

“…In 2000, 44.4% of the Chinese population aged 20–59 had a fat intake exceeding 30% of the total energy intake [18]. Regarding food intake, rural residents in China appeared to consume more grains and fewer animal-based foods than urban residents [20], which is well known to be associated with a lower energy and macro- as well as micro-nutrient intake [21,22]. Furthermore, in accordance with traditional Chinese culture, women are expected to follow a set of dietary precautions during the childbearing period [23,24,25].…”

China's transition: The effect of rapid urbanization on adult occupational physical activity

“…Relevant to shifting activity patterns we note that China has recently had a remarkable increase in the number of overweight adults (Bell, Ge, & Popkin, 2001;Gu, Reynolds, Wu et al, 2005;Popkin, 2001a;Zhou, Wu, Yang, Li, Zhang, & Zhao, 2002). Urban residence is an important predictor of overweight and obesity in many developing countries, including China (Adair, 2004;Caballero, 2001;Lee, 2004;Popkin & Doak, 1998;Popkin & Gordon-Larsen, 2004;Qu, Zhang, Shimbo, Liu, Cai, Wang et al, 2000), and it is possible that one mechanism through which this is operating is the decreasing occupational activity of its residents; in other words, occupational activity may be an important mediator of the relationship between urbanization and overweight. Thus, it was our goal to assess the relationship of urbanization on the occupational physical activity patterns of adults in China, hypothesizing that increases in urbanization have led to decreases in overall occupational activity.…”

Nutrient intake by kindergarten children in Beijing and Xian, China in 2004-2005, with special reference to sources of high sodium intake

“…In previous surveys in 1996-1999 on adult women in three urban and rural pairs in Jilin, Shandong, and Shaanxi provinces in China [5][6][7], energy and Fe intakes were sufficient in common but clear urban-rural difference was detected in intakes of protein and lipid, as well as Na. Ge [25] also reported better nutritional conditions for urban residents than for villagers in the past.…”

“…The nutrient intake was estimated from the code and weight of each food item followed by summation for intake per day [9][10][11][12][13]. The nutritionists estimated the amounts of unmeasurable food items (such as cooking and table salt) to supplement the food intake records [5][6][7].…”