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. 2009 Sep;32(9):1644-6.
doi: 10.2337/dc09-0573. Epub 2009 Jun 9.

Asian Americans: diabetes prevalence across U.S. and World Health Organization weight classifications

Reena Oza-Frank  1 , Mohammed K Ali, Viola Vaccarino, K M Venkat Narayan
Affiliations

Asian Americans: diabetes prevalence across U.S. and World Health Organization weight classifications

Reena Oza-Frank et al. Diabetes Care. 2009 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To compare diabetes prevalence among Asian Americans by World Health Organization and U.S. BMI classifications.

Research design and methods: Data on Asian American adults (n = 7,414) from the National Health Interview Survey for 1997-2005 were analyzed. Diabetes prevalence was estimated across weight and ethnic group strata.

Results: Regardless of BMI classification, Asian Indians and Filipinos had the highest prevalence of overweight (34-47 and 35-47%, respectively, compared with 20-38% in Chinese; P < 0.05). Asian Indians also had the highest ethnic-specific diabetes prevalence (ranging from 6-7% among the normal weight to 19-33% among the obese) compared with non-Hispanic whites: odds ratio (95% CI) for Asian Indians 2.0 (1.5-2.6), adjusted for age and sex, and 3.1 (2.4-4.0) with additional adjustment for BMI.

Conclusions: Asian Indian ethnicity, but not other Asian ethnicities, was strongly associated with diabetes. Weight classification as a marker of diabetes risk may need to accommodate differences across Asian subgroups.

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