Dietary and lifestyle risk factors for noncommunicable disease among the Mongolian population.

The overall aim is to determine the prevalence of lifestyle related risk factors for noncommunicable disease (NCD) in Mongolia. The prevalence of NCD risk factors was survey in among 15-64 years old population, using the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach for NCD surveillance. The risk factor survey instrument was designed within the concepts of NCD surveillance taking in to account local needs and resources. The average fruit and vegetables intake has been reported as being 3.2% (+/- 0.004 CI) serving sizes per day in the surveyed population. The overall proportion of current daily smokers was 24.2% (+/- 0.1 CI) and 66.5% (+/- 0.1 CI) of surveyed population were used alcohol beverages over the past 12 months. About 23.1% (+/- 0.1 CI) of the surveyed population engaged only in low levels of physical activity or have had physical inactivity and 22.2% (+/- 0.05 CI) had elevated blood pressure. In regard to body mass index risk categories, 31.6% (+/- 0.1 CI) of the population aged 15-64 years was overweight and obese. The prevalence of people with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and elevated blood cholesterol level were 12.5% (+/- 0.05 CI) and 7.0% (+/- 0.01 CI) among 25-64 years old population. In conclusion, 9 in every 10 people aged 15-64 years had at least one risk factor for developing NCDs. One in every five people had three and more risk factors or was at HIGH risk and in particular, one in every two males aged 45 years and above was at high risk in developing NCDs.

Investigation of oxidative stress and dietary habits in Mongolian people, compared to Japanese people.

BACKGROUND: The average life span of Mongolians is 62 years for males and 69 years for females. This life span is about 16 years shorter than that of Japanese. Mongolian people generally eat meat, fat and diary products but less vegetables or fruit. Thus, we investigated the state of oxidative stress and dietary habits of Mongolians. METHODS: The investigation was performed in Murun city in the northwest area of Mongolia. A total of 164 healthy subjects (24-66 y) were enrolled. As a marker of reactive oxygen species, the levels of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM) were measured using the d-ROM test. Interviews about dietary habits were performed using the Food Frequency Questionnaire established by the Kagawa Nutrition University. RESULTS: ROM levels were 429.7 +/- 95.2 Carr U for Murun subjects, whereas Japanese people (n = 220, 21-98 y) showed 335.3 +/- 59.8 (p < 0.001). The levels of serum malondialdehyde-modified low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were also high. ROM levels correlated with body fat ratio and inversely correlated with handgrip strength. Handgrip strength in the subjects over 45 years decreased more rapidly than that of age-matched Japanese. Murun subjects ate larger amounts of meat, fat, milk and flour and dairy products than Japanese, but less vegetables or fruit. Serum vitamin A and E levels were the same as Japanese references, but vitamin C levels were lower. CONCLUSION: Murun subjects may be in high oxidative stress, which may have a relationship with early ageing and several diseases, ultimately resulting in their short life span. In order to increase antioxidant capacity and suppress overproduction of ROM, antioxidant food intake is recommended.