significantly correlated to the integration of traditional seafood, berries, wild game and plant roots into contemporary Nuxalk diets (32). Despite these reported preferences, consumption of historically traditional NA foods has decreased to peripheral food status despite the role they could potentially play as more healthy food alternatives (65;66).
In general, investigations of food intake behaviors in NA populations have been focused on nutrient intakes and their comparisons to national survey data or recommended nutrient intakes (22;34;35;42;46;51;199). Few studies have examined foods and the resultant contribution to overall dietary intake (18-20;45). Moreover, food patterning has not been widely studied in NAs even though it is very important to know food patterns to plan effective nutrition education interventions (17;30;46;65). Little is known about the perceptions of Native Americans towards healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as consuming a low fat diet and more vegetables and fruits (56).
Dietary habits are influenced by cultural and social functions and need to be understood prior to development of programs attempting to improve dietary intake (28;57-60). One method of studying overall food habits is the food-patterning method by interviewing the target group and studying the practices of interest. The foods that people commonly eat are typically categorized based on frequency of consumption into core and secondary foods (61-63). When designing a nutrition education intervention, the contribution of core and secondary foods to overall diet should be emphasized and change the focus of the diet based on their contribution (64). The objective of this study was to identify the core and secondary foods and their impact on overall nutrient intakes in NA women in Oklahoma.
METHODS
Subjects
A convenience sample of 81 Oklahoma NA women was used for the collection of