Original scientific paper
Nutritional Habits of Croatian Island Populations – Recent Insights
Sasa Missoni
; Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Although Croatia is divided into continental and insular subpopulation which practice different dietary habits, a
general shift in nutritional habits has been observed in the direction of globalization, including considerably higher intake
of red meat, saturated fatty acids, milk, dairies etc. and accompanied by a decrease in physical activity. These relatively
abrupt changes have had an especially significant impact on the insular populations, known for their traditional Mediterranean diet and have led to the increased prevalence of hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart diseases etc. on Croatian islands. Since the expression of genes responsible for the occurrence of complex diseases can be enhanced in isolated populations due to the effect of evolutionary forces, genetic-epidemiological research in population isolates is of great importance, giving us insight into the interplay between intrinsic (genes) and extrinsic risk factors (diet) for disease development.
Keywords
nutrition; islands; intrinsic and extrinsic factors; complex diseases; evolution
Hrčak ID:
94853
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2012.
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