Diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander Americans

Diabetes mellitus poses a rapidly growing health challenge to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in the United States. In 1997, the Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) population was estimated to be about 10 million, almost a 50 percent increase since the 1990 Census and representing about 3.8 percent of the total U.S. population.


Prevalence data for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans are limited, but studies have shown that some groups within this population are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes compared with non-Hispanic white people in the United States.