Diabetes is a chronic disease often associated with obesity but a new study led by University of Victoria sociologist Karen Kobayashi shows that the disease can impact Asian American populations differently.
Diabetes is a chronic disease often associated with obesity but a new study led by University of Victoria sociologist Karen Kobayashi shows that the disease can impact Asian American populations differently. The research found that Japanese Americans who are not overweight had twice the odds of developing diabetes compared to non-obese, non-Hispanic white Americans.
“We were already interested in several Asian sub-groups, having published earlier papers on the prevalence of diabetes among South Asian Americans, Korean Americans and Filipino Americans,” explains Kobayashi, who is also a research affiliate at UVic’s Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (IALH). “This approach has proven beneficial: the new research points to the surprising conclusion that Japanese Americans are at a much higher risk of developing diabetes.”
Kobayashi and five co-authors, including UVic sociology doctoral student and IALH student affiliate Mushira Mohsin Khan, are calling for the development of intervention and prevention approaches with lifestyle changes specifically targeted towards non-obese Japanese Americans.
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Image via University of Victoria.
