Dietary habits, diversity and the indigenous diet of the turks and Caicos Islands implications for island-specific nutrition intervention

Abstract

Objective: To describe dietary habits in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Design and Methods: Food frequency questionnaires were administered to female-household-heads of 144 households randomly selected from three islands ' voter's lists (Grand Turk [n = 48], Providenciales [n = 46] and Middle Caicos [n = 50]). Data were collected on the distribution of:(a) Households among Levels 0 -7 of a Food Group Scale, developed using the Cornell Technique of Scaling Dichotomous Data, and based on number of households that consumed seven food groups (meat and legumes, bread/cereals, fruits, vegetables, starchy roots/tubers/fruits; dairy and beverages) weekly; (b) Foods among four categories (common core, island core, occasional or rare) also based on weekly frequency of consumption. Results: Thirty per cent of households on Grand Turk and 37% on Providenciales were at level 7, the most varied and complex diets, compared to 3% for Middle Caicos, which exemplified the indigenous diet of local seafood, beans, and grits (corn) supplemented with imports eg rice and bread/flour. Middle Caicos had substantially fewer island core foods ([n = 16] from four food groups) than did Grand Turk (n = 29) and Providenciales (n = 30), which represented the 7-food groups and included 15 (94%) of Middle Caicos' island core foods. Conclusion: Providenciales and Grand Turk had more varied and complex diets. Understanding how various islands supplement the indigenous/traditional diet is imperative to develop and evaluate (a) island-specific nutrition intervention eg culturally appropriate nutrition education messages (eg to increase iron consumption); and (b) future research protocols.

Conched Out: Total Reconstructed Fisheries Catches for the Turks and Caicos Islands Uncover Unsustainable Resource Usage

“…It appears that bonefish (Albula vulpe) and Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) were the preferred local species in the early period (circa 1950). Maitland (2006) calculated that at least once per week, over 97% of households in the TCI ate fish, 79% ate conch, and 46% consumed lobster. Fish populations appear to be in relatively good shape compared to neighboring islands as traditionally preferred species are still available.…”

“…To convert serving sizes to live animal weight to estimate local consumption from the seafood consumption surveys, an initial conversion factor of 2 was applied to account for trimmed and unused meat (Thiele, 2001), which was multiplied by the FAO factor of 7.5 to account for the shell, equating to a total conversion factor of 15. (Bryden, 1973(Bryden, ), 1962Caribbean Tourism Organization, 1980-2006Turks andCaicos Islands Tour Board Statistics, 2007-2012 data. Note: stopover tourists average between 6 and 7 days each, and tourist-days were used to calculate consumption.…”

Nutritional Knowledge and Practices, Lifestyle Characteristics and Anthropometric Status of Turks and Caicos Islands Elementary School Children

“…The second study, the first and only national survey to examine dietary practices, define food habits and assess dietary iron consumption in the TCI, was conducted in 1984. It found marked inter-island variation in dietary patterns and dietary iron scores (25,26).…”