Diet and nutrition as influences on the morbidity/mortality gap

Dietary and nutritional factors underlie many conditions that contribute to health disparities between minorities and whites (e.g., infant mortality, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain cancers). Nutrition interventions may, therefore, be useful in reducing the "morbidity/mortality gap," that is, in helping to align the health profiles of minorities with those of the general population. The significance of diet and nutrition for the health status of minority populations may be greater than for whites because of a higher prevalence of risk factors or, in some cases, because the sensitivity to a given risk factor may be greater. The available data suggest possible racial and ethnic differences in diet-related attributable risks. However, the ability to clarify these findings is currently limited because relatively few nutritional epidemiologic studies have compared racial or ethnic groups. Although such studies are inherently complex, and the methodologic issues raised when studying minority groups add further challenges, further exploration of the role of diet and nutrition in relation to health disparities between minorities and whites may provide important new etiologic insights as well as indicate possible avenues of intervention.