Diabetes in Hispanic Americans
Author: Stern, Michael P.
Date Published: 1985
There are about 15 million persons of Spanish origin in the United States. About 10-12 percent of Mexican American adults have diabetes, greater than 95 percent of which is the noninsulin-dependent types (NIDDM). A distinct socioeconomic gradient is present, with NIDDM being two to four times as commons in low income Mexican Americans as in upper income Mexican Americans. Diabetes is about 2.8 times as frequent in Mexican American men as in all white men in the United States and about 1.5 times as frequent in Mexican American women as in all white women. Explanations for these differences in prevalence include higher rates of obesity in Mexican Americans, particularly women, lower family income, and higher percent of native American genetic admixture in Mexican Americans than in all whites in the United States. In Puerto Rico, NIDDM prevalence is higher in urban than in rural residents, although the overall prevalence does not appear to be as high as in Mexican Americans. These differences do not appear to be due to differences in obesity, at least in urban dwellers. There do not appear to be any studies of diabetes prevalence in Puerto Ricans living in the United States or studies of Cuban Americans.
Date Published: 1985
There are about 15 million persons of Spanish origin in the United States. About 10-12 percent of Mexican American adults have diabetes, greater than 95 percent of which is the noninsulin-dependent types (NIDDM). A distinct socioeconomic gradient is present, with NIDDM being two to four times as commons in low income Mexican Americans as in upper income Mexican Americans. Diabetes is about 2.8 times as frequent in Mexican American men as in all white men in the United States and about 1.5 times as frequent in Mexican American women as in all white women. Explanations for these differences in prevalence include higher rates of obesity in Mexican Americans, particularly women, lower family income, and higher percent of native American genetic admixture in Mexican Americans than in all whites in the United States. In Puerto Rico, NIDDM prevalence is higher in urban than in rural residents, although the overall prevalence does not appear to be as high as in Mexican Americans. These differences do not appear to be due to differences in obesity, at least in urban dwellers. There do not appear to be any studies of diabetes prevalence in Puerto Ricans living in the United States or studies of Cuban Americans.
