Asian Americans are more than two times likely to develop type 2 diabetes than whites, according to the Asian American Diabetes Initiative.
Sampan reports that Asian Americans diagnosed with diabetes tend to be about ten years younger than non-Asians with diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes among Asians tends to run in the family.
The disease is typically caused by lack of exercise, poor diet and weight gain. Even though Asian Americans have lower body mass index or BMI than whites, they have a higher rate of diabetes.
“When we talk about Asians, you can’t just look at the Caucasian standard BMI of 30 as obese,” said said Greeshma Shetty, staff clinician at the Joslin Diabetes Center. “For Asians, they should be under 27 for their BMI, which is the cut-off for obesity in Asians.”
She says the average Asian with diabetes has a BMI of 24 at diagnosis.
You can find out about preventative measures and treatment of type 2 diabetes in Sampan.
