Diabetes and Hispanic Americans: more than just genetics

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Diabetes and Hispanic Americans: more than just genetics

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Posted Jun 27, 2005 PT by Jessica Fraser

 

Roughly 41.3 million people in the United States today are Hispanic. That breaks

down to one in every seven people. Hispanic Americans represent the

second-largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States. And all

of that growth comes with a staggering rate of diabetes.

 

According to the 2003 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report,

more than 1.5 million Hispanic Americans had diabetes, up from less than 1.2

million in 1997. As high as the rate of diabetes appears among Hispanics, it

doesn't include undiagnosed cases.

 

Disease Prevention and Treatment by the Life Extension Foundation states that

roughly 5.4 million people in the United States have diabetes and are unaware of

it. " Minorities are at particular risk. Compared with Caucasians, blacks have a

60 percent higher risk of developing diabetes and Hispanics have a 90 percent

increased risk. " According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse

(NDIC), Hispanics are 1.9 times more likely to have diabetes than whites.

 

Obesity is a major contributor to the onset of type 2 diabetes. According to the

NDIC, minority ethnic groups in the United States that have high rates of

obesity are on the rise, especially Hispanic Americans. The problem isn't just

owing to the adults within those groups. Food Politics author Marion Nestle

writes, " Obesity rates are rising among children and adolescents, especially

those who are African-American or Hispanic. In the early 1990s, for example, 23

percent of white girls aged six to 11 were overweight, compared to 29 percent of

Mexican-American girls … Pediatricians report seeing children with high levels

of serum cholesterol, high blood pressure, and " adult " onset diabetes (type 2)

at earlier and earlier ages -- all consequences of excessive caloric intake.

Because obesity tends to persist into adulthood, this condition may well

predispose overweight and obese children to cardiovascular and other chronic

disease risks later in life. "

 

The next generation of obese Hispanic-Americans is becoming diabetic

progressively earlier. But these kids aren't becoming obese entirely of their

own accord. Saturated Fat May Save Your Life author Bruce Fife writes, " Children

with type 2 diabetes look a lot like their adult counterparts. Most are black or

Hispanic, with a particularly high rate found among children of Mexican

descent. " The NDIC reports that Mexican Americans make up the largest percentage

of the Hispanic population in the United States; they also represent the largest

percentage of Hispanic Americans with diabetes. Although Mexican Americans seem

even more disposed toward developing diabetes, all Hispanic Americans run a high

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