The Asian Diabetes Prevention Initiative (ADPI) aims to create and spread an effective public health message to help counter the rising rates of diabetes among Asian populations. It is a joint collaboration between the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition and the National University of Singapore, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
Why are Asians at higher risk for type 2 diabetes?
Studies have shown that Asians are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, when compared with people of European ancestry. Asians are more likely to develop the disease even at a lower BMI. This means that even though some Asian populations currently have a lower prevalence of overweight and obese individuals than populations in the West, they have a disproportionately high percentage of people with diabetes.1,2
This higher risk may be because Asians, especially South Asians, are more likely to have less muscle and more abdominal fat, which increases insulin resistance. For example, even though Indian newborns have a lower average body weight compared to white newborns, Indian newborns have higher levels of body fat and insulin.3 Imaging technology that measures fat in humans has shown that Asians of a healthy BMI have more fat around organs and in the belly area than Europeans with the same BMI.1
References
- Chan JC, Malik V, Jia W, et al. Diabetes in Asia: epidemiology, risk factors, and pathophysiology. JAMA. 2009;301(20):2129-2140.
- Malik V, Willett WC, Hu FB. Global obesity: trends, risk factors and policy implications. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2013;9(1):13-27.
- Yajnik CS, Lubree HG, Rege SS, et al. Adiposity and hyperinsulinemia in Indians are present at birth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87(12):5575-5580.
ADPI content is currently being reviewed and updated. In the meantime, check out these diabetes prevention resources, as well as healthy eating guidance translated into the following languages: