Lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease in a multiethnic population: an analysis of two prospective studies over a 20-year period.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated changes in risk factors in Hawaii over 20 years and compared health behaviors among ethnic groups with well-documented differences in disease risk.


METHODS
Comparison of scores of a Chronic Disease Risk Index (CDRI) in the population of two large population-based cohorts.


METHODS
The respective sample sizes for the two cohorts were 19,319 and 97,746 persons ages > or = 40 years of White, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and Native Hawaiian ancestry.


METHODS
The CDRI included smoking status, alcohol use, meat intake, fruit and vegetable consumption, and body mass index. Mean total and component scores were compared over time and by ethnic group after adjustment for age and education.


RESULTS
We found a reduction in overall CDRI scores, ie, improved health profiles, for both men and women over time. Men, Native Hawaiians, and Whites had higher CDRI scores than women and Japanese, Chinese, and Filipinos due to their higher scores for smoking, alcohol use, and overweight, whereas nutritional intakes were similar in all ethnic categories. Smoking, alcohol use, and overweight increased over time in both men and women, whereas dietary composition appeared to improve.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis suggests an overall reduction in modifiable dietary and lifestyle risk factors in Hawaii over time. Persistent differences by sex and ethnic category indicate that interventions to modify lifestyle factors need to tailor messages to the groups at highest risk.
Maskarinec
Gertraud
G
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA. gertraud@crch.hawaii.edu
Carlin
Linda
L
Pagano
Ian
I
Yamamoto
Jennifer
J
Shumay
Dianne
D
Wilkens
Lynne R
LR
Kolonel
Laurence N
LN
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000208:ethnology; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology*; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000208:ethnology*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology