Nutrient intake of low-income Southeast Asian pregnant women.

Dietary nutrient intakes of 91 Cambodian, 37 Laotian, and 59 Vietnamese low-income pregnant women attending a university teaching hospital outpatient clinic in Southern California were measured. The nutrient intakes of the Southeast Asian groups were compared with one another as well as with the intakes of a group of 165 low-income non-Southeast Asian pregnant women of similar height, weight, and age from the same outpatient clinic population. Computerized analysis of the 24-hour recall data showed that there were few differences in nutrient intake between the Southeast Asian groups, except that the Cambodian group consumed significantly less fat, riboflavin, vitamin D, and calcium than the Vietnamese group. However, there were a number of differences between the nutrient intakes of the Southeast Asian groups and those of the non-Southeast Asian group. These included significantly lower intakes of fat, riboflavin, folate, vitamins D and E, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium and significantly higher intakes of thiamin, niacin, sodium, and selenium. These findings suggest that low-income Southeast Asian pregnant women have some good dietary habits that dietitians need to reinforce and other dietary habits that need improvement.