Inter-relationships of nutrient intakes for urban Chinese spouses in Taiwan

This study was to examine dietary intakes and the inter-relationships in urban Chinese spouses in Taipei, Taiwan. We analyzed the dietary intakes and related household factors for 82 wives and their husbands by 24-h recalls and a Chinese food frequency questionnaire (CFFQ) designed with meal sequences in Taipei, Taiwan. The distributions of energy assessed from CFFQ by meals were similar for husbands and wives, with 16% for breakfast, 39% for lunch, 40% for dinner and 5% for snacks (afternoon and evening combined). Assessed by 24-h recalls, the means for total energy, the energy per kilogram body weight, and the percent energy from fat, protein, and carbohydrate were different: 2394 kcal, 34.4 kcal/kg, 31%, 15%, and 51% for husbands; and 1729 kcal, 32.0 kcal/kg, 34%, 16%, and 50% for wives, respectively. The P/M/S (polyunsaturated fat/monounsaturated fat/saturated fat) ratios were 1.5/1.2/1 for husbands and 1.3/1.2/1 for wives. A high eating-out frequency may account for the low correlations for most nutrient intakes between husbands and wives. Canonical correlation analysis for total energy, protein and carbohydrate reveals significant inter-relationships between husbands and wives. Carbohydrate is the consistent and important variable that weighted in an opposite direction with protein and energy intakes in both husbands and wives. These results support the observation that decreased rice consumption as a staple food, cooked at home, for urban Chinese couples, indicated by decreased carbohydrate intake in wives, may account for the increase of energy and protein intakes for husbands.