Culturally Tailored Nutrition and Lifestyle Intervention Can Effectively Reduce the Cardio-metabolic Risk Factors in Korean Migrants Living in Australia - Culturally Tailored Nutrition and Lifestyle Intervention Can Effectively Reduce the Cardio-metabolic Risk Factors in Korean Migrants Living in Australia - Open Access Pub

The risk levels of chronic diseases are increasing among Asian migrants in Western countries compared to their origin-country counterparts. This study evaluates the impact of an 8-week nutrition and lifestyle intervention on cardio-metabolic risk factors in Korean migrants living in Melbourne, Australia. Thirty participants aged 32-62 years completed the program. Self-reported food intake and physical activity, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements, and biomarkers of cardio-metabolic risk were assessed. An initial training session and four consequent nutrition advice sessions were provided for all participants. There was a significant reduction in the waist and hip circumferences. Positive changes were also observed in plasma lipid profiles, calcium intake and frequency of physical activities. These findings demonstrate that a culturally appropriate nutrition and lifestyle intervention can be successfully delivered to reduce the cardio-metabolic risk factors and improve the health and wellbeing of Korean adult migrants. DOI10.14302/issn.2379-7835.ijn-14-536 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death, accounting for about 30% of all global deaths 1.Risk factors associated with CVD include central obesity, elevated plasma cholesterol and glucose levels, hypertension and a sedentary lifestyle 2, 3. These risk factors are potentially modifiable with lifestyle changes to dietary intake and physical activity level. It has been well documented that an unhealthy lifestyle such as an unbalanced diet and sedentary life is linked with higher mortality rates in Western countries 4. High dietary fat intakes consisted of 60% energy have been associated with a positive energy balance and results in an accumulation of fatty acids in adipose tissue, skeletal muscle and visceral organs such as heart and liver 5.An increased consumption of processed foods and fast-foods, high in energy, fat and simple sugar, is strongly related to the current epidemic of obesity and diabetes 6. Individuals who visited fast-food restaurants more than twice a week gained nearly 5 kg in body weight over 15 years and also had two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance compared with individuals who visited such restaurants less than once a week 6. An “unbalanced” diet is related to an incidence of adverse health outcomes such as dyslipidemia, high blood glucose level, and CVD. A high carbohydrate diet (≥ 72% of total energy) was reported to be associated with higher body mass index (BMI); hypertension; and dyslipidemia 7. Moreover, individuals with a low physical