Using standard weight categories for White adults and lower BMI thresholds for Asian adults, the PORTAL Network cohort study showed that Asian adults had an alarmingly higher prevalence of diabetes (10.1%) and prediabetes (33.0%) in the healthy weight category, with prevalence significantly higher among men than women ...
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have higher rates of diabetes than whites, and are prone to developing Type 2 diabetes at younger ages and lower body weights than the general U.S. population. Among Asian subgroups, the risk of diabetes is especially high among South Asians, Filipinos and Pacific Islanders.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2013 and 2018, the percentage of Asian adults with diabetes increased from 8.0% to 9.2%, with an age-adjusted percentage rate of 11.4% compared with 8% among non-Hispanic White adults. Asians and Asian Americans are heterogeneous groups.
Amongst the 422 million people globally affected with diabetes in 2014, over 230 million were from Asia, with most cases originating from China, India, Indonesia and Japan.
In 1980, less than 5% of Chinese men had diabetes. Now, more than 10% do. This increase has been largely driven by unhealthy lifestyles – diets that are too high in sugar and fat, and people not getting enough physical activity,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China.
As per IDF 2021 estimates, 11 million adults in Japan have diabetes. The high prevalence of diabetes is associated with a significant economic burden and can be attributed to lifestyle changes and increased longevity.
Meanwhile, African nations like Benin and The Gambia recorded the lowest prevalence of diabetes in the world. In 2021, African countries had a combined total of 23.6 million adults with diabetes, less than 2% of the continent's population.
The prevalence of diabetes is highest among Native Americans (33%) and lowest among Alaska natives (5.5%; Table 1). NHWs and Asian Americans have similar prevalence rates of 7.1% and 8.4%, respectively, where NHBs and Hispanic Americans overall have higher prevalence rates of 11.8% and 12.6%, respectively.
The new variants associated with type 2 diabetes in people of East Asian descent include several near to genes involved in skeletal muscle, pancreatic functions and alcohol metabolism, and in genes linked to higher levels of fat within the abdomen.
Furthermore, these data on diabetes incidence also suggest that South Asians have a higher diabetes risk than other ethnic populations, and normal-weight South Asians have higher risk than normal-weight people of other ethnic groups, including white, black and Pima Indians.
They estimated each serving per day of white rice was associated with an 11% increase in risk of diabetes, which may help explain why the association was even stronger in Asia, where they eat much more rice. This could explain why China has almost the same diabetes rates as we do.
Prevalence of diabetes in Chinese people
Twenty years ago it was estimated to be 0.9%; however, today approximately 2.5% of Chinese people have diabetes. It is known that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is high in other parts of the world, and that it tends to rise as body mass increases (Pickup and Williams, 1997).
Diabetes rates vary greatly around the world. Pakistan has the highest diabetes rate at 30.8%, followed by Kuwait at 24.9%, and Nauru, New Caledonia, and the Northern Mariana Islands, all at 23.4%. On the other hand, countries with the lowest diabetes rates include Eritrea, Somalia, and Guinea-Bissau, all below 1%.
If you have a mother, father, sister, or brother with diabetes, you are more likely to get diabetes yourself. You are also more likely to have prediabetes. Talk to your doctor about your family health history of diabetes.
In general, Asians have more fats within their abdomen and less muscles. This type of body composition would lead to insulin resistance or the body responding poorer to the actions of insulin. Therefore, Asians are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes at a lower body mass index.
Washington D.C. 11 November 2022 (PAHO/WHO) – Growing rates of obesity, poor diets, and lack of physical activity, among other factors, have contributed to a more than three-fold increase in the number of adults living with diabetes in the Americas in the past 30 years according to a new report by the Pan American ...
How common is diabetes? In 2021, an estimated 1 in 20 (just over 1.3 million) Australians were living with diabetes (prevalence) and were registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme - external site opens in new window (NDSS) and Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group (APEG) state-based registers.
Keeping their weight within a healthy range. A body mass index (BMI) of 23 kg/m2 or greater is not appropriate for people of Asian descent. Seeing their doctor for regular checkups if they are in the high-risk group. Checking out cooking classes, health education or support programs to build good habits.
Among Korean adults aged 30 years or older, approximately 6.05 million people, or 16.7% (19.2% in men and 14.3% in women), had diabetes mellitus in 2020 (Table 1). When defined based on FPG alone, the estimated prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 14.5% (16.8% in men and 12.3% in women).
South Asians have increased visceral adiposity and insulin resistance, impaired β-cell function, and a genetic predisposition to diabetes which culminates in a markedly increased risk of diabetes.
Some lean protein choices include chicken, lean ground pork and fish. These proteins are often used in Chinese main dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken with Bell Peppers. Plant-based proteins, such as tofu, are also found in Chinese dishes. Tofu may be used as a meat alternative, providing protein from soybeans.
In comparison, Vietnam had the lowest prevalence of diabetic people across the Asia-Pacific region that year, approximately six percent.