Diet in the General United States Asian American Population: A Scoping Review

Asian American populations are underrepresented within dietary programs and nutrition-specific funding. Existing understanding amongst Asian American communities focuses on those with pre-existing health conditions. There is a gap in published literature providing an overview of the food groups Asian American populations without noncommunicable diseases consume. This scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive mapping of the Asian American diet with a focus on food groups in the United States within existing literature. A scoping review was conducted from December 2023 to December 2024. Research databases (PubMed/Medline, CABI Digital Library, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCO, and ProQuest Dissertations) were searched to identify articles published since 2000 that described food group consumption of Asian American populations. A total of 1486 articles were independently screened by 3 reviewers, leaving 165 articles for inclusion in this review. An additional 15 gray literature sources were separately reviewed for complementary information. Key findings (population and geographical focus, dataset, food group outcome, study limitations, and recommendations) were extracted and summarized in narrative form. Within the literature, Asian American adults and children generally consume more refined grains and less dairy than the standard United States population, though specific patterns vary: South Asians report higher saturated fat and dairy intake, while Chinese, Filipino, and Southeast Asian groups often fall short of recommended fruit and vegetable consumption. Dietary staples also differ by ethnicity, ranging from white rice and noodles in East/Southeast Asian diets to breads and buns among South Asian and Filipino communities. Recommendations for improving diets in Asian American communities emphasize culturally tailored nutrition education that incorporates traditional diets, promotes whole-grain substitutions, and adopts family-focused approaches. Future research efforts in Asian American diet and nutrition should better understand meal-sharing practices and cooking methods. Identifying broad insights in Asian American dietary consumption lays an essential framework for developing recommendations and interventions to address dietary behaviors contributing to diet-related disease burden among the Asian American population. This scoping review is registered on Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/K3X8S).