Being from California, this really surprised me.
Health professionals have found seven out of 10 Filipino Americans in the state are overweight or suffer from obesity, reports the Inquirer.
Statistics released at the 1st Annual National Filipino Health Equity Symposium also revealed the rate of diabetes among Filipino Americans in Northern California is 16.1 percent.
That’s higher than other ethnic groups including other Asian subgroups.
Language and the lack of culturally appropriate resources are barriers for Filipino Americans to receive treatment and education about diabetes.
“Eating is important, but cut back on fat and salt,” said Julieta Gabiola of Stanford University. “In the Philippines, they pack it up with noodles and rice and not much meat–the food for three meals a day is boiled rice.”
You can read about other treatment and prevention methods in the Inquirer.
