South Asians are at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes, up to four times higher than other ethnic groups probably due to a combination of genetics and environment. Recent studies have shown that South Asian diets high in refined ("bad") carbohydrates are associated with diabetes risk factors.
Diet and obesity
In terms of diet, traditional foods high in sugar and fat combined with western “fast foods” are thought to be a major factor behind the high rates of obesity amongst South Asian communities in western countries, and could therefore also play a role in the development of diabetes.
People from South Asian backgrounds are more likely to store fat around their middle. This is known as visceral fat and it can build up around important organs like the liver and pancreas.
So you may not think you're at risk (and your doctor may not think you are either!). But as a person of Asian descent, you may have less muscle and more fat than other groups and can develop diabetes at a younger age and lower body weight. That extra body fat tends to be in your belly (visceral fat).
It surrounds abdominal muscles and organs like the liver. This deep type of fat is called visceral fat and is a known diabetes risk factor. Visceral fat is common in South Asian people and “makes our tissues very resistant to insulin,” she said.
Diabetes is also more common among African-Americans and Asian Americans compared to whites. Hispanics living in the U.S. are 17% more likely to have Type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic white people. Rates can vary by ethnicity, too. Asian Indians are 2-3 times as likely to get diabetes as Korean Americans are.
Therefore, while it is apparent that South Asians have a higher degree of insulin resistance than do members of other ethnic groups, an early impairment in β-cell function could also be a key pathophysiological mechanism in T2DM development in South Asians.
Obesity, especially central obesity and increased visceral fat due to physical inactivity, and consumption of a high-calorie/high-fat and high sugar diets, thus become major contributing factors.
There's a known link between overweight and obesity and diabetes risk. But Asians in America are 40% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, compared with the white population – despite having lower average BMIs. One likely explanation: Asian bodies tend to store fat "in all the wrong places," explains Dr.
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.
Modern South Asians are descendants of a combination of an indigenous South Asian component (termed Ancient Ancestral South Indians, short "AASI"), closest to Southern Indian tribal groups, and distantly related to the Andamanese peoples, as well as to East Asian people, and Aboriginal Australians, and later-arriving ...
After adjusting for age, sex, and study site, there was a larger difference in diabetes prevalence between the South Asians (23%) and the other groups.
A recent study examining the prevalence of T2DM among adults in the United States by race/ethnicity reported that after adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI), the prevalence of T2DM was 27% in South Asians compared with 8.0% in non-Hispanic White individuals.
China is the country with the highest number of diabetics worldwide, with around 141 million people suffering from the disease.
From these results, it is clear that Asians have a higher risk of developing diabetes due to genetic defects affecting insulin secretory function and β-cell mass. The exact mechanisms underlying reduced β-cell mass and its subsequent associations remain unknown.
Diabetes, like stroke, is influenced by cultural, behavioral, and environmental factors interacting with genetic susceptibility, and is geographically patterned: diagnosed diabetes prevalence is lowest in the Midwest and northeast but highest in southern and Appalachian states.
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. However, this number is predicted to double to 55 million by 2045.
It has been proposed that arsenic and pesticides applied to crops and in the soil may contribute to the very high prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan [10]. Another possibility is environmental agents that directly damage pancreatic beta cells. This is an area that we plan to explore in the future.
India is the 'diabetes capital of the world', according to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research that shows the country now has 101 million diabetics, with a further 136 million pre-diabetic individuals in need of prevention.
In a nutshell, the “Asian Indian phenotype” refers to a situation where, for any given level of body mass index (BMI), south Asians have greater total body fat, more visceral fat, more insulin resistance, and a greater propensity to T2D as compared to white Caucasians [3].
Down syndrome occurs in all races and ethnicities; there may be differences in the prevalence of elective termination by U.S. region, race, ethnicity, and maternal age, but the actual differences in live birth prevalence are small.
Diabetes by race/ethnicity
14.5% of American Indians/Alaskan Natives. 12.1% of non-Hispanic blacks. 11.8% of Hispanics. 9.5% of Asian Americans.
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.
Diabetes is a rapidly growing health challenge among Asians and Pacific Islanders who have immigrated to the United States, affecting about 20 percent of Asian Americans; about 90 to 95 percent of Asians with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
Research does show that South Asians, when compared to other ethnic groups, tend to have certain physical characteristics 1,2: Lower levels of lean tissue (muscle) relative to height. Thinner arms and legs. A higher amount of overall central fat storage — aka, belly fat.