Abstract 1615: Correlation between demographic factors, dietary habits and urinary micronutrient content among minority groups in New York City

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. A diet low in fruits and vegetables increases the risk of certain cancer types. Moreover, socioeconomic factors contribute to limited access to fresh and healthy foods and limited opportunities for safe physical activity, leading to poor physical health. In this multidisciplinary, IRB approved study, we explored relationships between demographic factors, self-reported dietary behaviors and gallic acid, a polyphenolic micronutrient that correlates well with fruit and vegetable intake. We recruited participants at a senior center in East Harlem, New York City, a racially diverse and underserved community. The participants completed a NIH-validated survey through which we assessed their dietary habits and collected standardized demographic data and history of cancer. Urine samples from participants were analyzed for gallic acid. So far, 33 participants completed the survey and 25 of them provided urine samples for gallic acid analysis. We found an association between demographic information (Race/ethnicity and age) and intake of certain foods. Specifically, age was negatively associated with french fries/fried potatoes, cooked dried beans and tomato soup intake (p<0.05) and Black/African American race was associated with increased intake of juice (p<0.05). A positive association between self-reported food intake and gallic acid concentration was only observed with french fries/fried potatoes (R = 0.641, p<0.001). Overall, the results suggest a significant association between dietary habits and demographic factors. Ongoing work include further recruitment of participants, and multivariate analysis of the data. This will be followed by an intervention consisting of active nutritional education, and urinary gallic acid analysis to assess the impact of nutritional education on dietary habits.

Citation Format: Cristina Zambrano, Maayan Beeber, April Panitz, Katarzyna Wyka, Safa Ibrahim, Yin Tan, Grace Ma, Khursheed Navder, Ming-Chin Yeh, Olorunseun Ogunwobi. Correlation between demographic factors, dietary habits and urinary micronutrient content among minority groups in New York City [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1615.