SUMMARY
Eating characteristics of Chilean indigenous and non-indigenous adolescent girls
During childhood and adolescence, eating habits become established which are instrumental in determining eating behavior later in life. Various authors have described the acculturation of the Mapuche people toward Western culture. The objective of this study was to analyze the eating characteristics of indigenous and non-indigenous adolescent girls in the Araucanía Region of Chile. A cross-sectional design was used with a probabilistic sample of 281 adolescents comprised of 139 indigenous and 142 non-indigenous girls attending 168 elementary schools. A modified food frequency questionnaire was applied, designed to obtain information about eating habits and consumption of Mapuche foods. The eating schedules are similar in both ethnic groups, with dinner being the meal that is least consumed. Total snack consumption per week has a mean of 7 with an interquartile range (IQR) of 5 to 10 without any differences between ethnic groups; of these snacks, only 2 were healthy (IQR=1 to 3). The indigenous girls had a higher probability of consumption of native foods including mote (boiled wheat) (OR=2.00; IC=0.93-4.29), muday (fermented cereal alcohol) (OR=3.45; IC=1.90-6.27), and yuyo (field mustard) (OR=4.40; IC=2.06-9.39). The study’s conclusion is that the the eating habits and behavior of indigenous adolescents are similar to those of non-indigenous girls, though the former still consume more indigenous foods.

Key words: Indigenous, food intake, adolescents.



Recibido: 07/12/2009
Aceptado: 18/03/2010

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