PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Oza-Frank, Reena
AU  - Ali, Mohammed K.
AU  - Vaccarino, Viola
AU  - Narayan, K.M. Venkat
TI  - Asian Americans: Diabetes Prevalence Across U.S. and World Health Organization Weight Classifications
AID  - 10.2337/dc09-0573
DP  - 2009 Sep 01
TA  - Diabetes Care
PG  - 1644--1646
VI  - 32
IP  - 9
4099  - http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/9/1644.short
4100  - http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/9/1644.full
SO  - Diabetes Care2009 Sep 01; 32
AB  - 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.