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 (i.e. the ratio of lipid over total nutrients in terms of energy) of 33%. When nutrient intakes were compared between the urban (i.e. 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.