• Non-Hispanic Whites are three times more likely to be obese as Asian Americans.
• Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders are 3.7 times more likely to be obese than the overall Asian American population.
• Filipino adults are 70% more likely to be obese as compared to the overall Asian population.
• About 1 in 10 Vietnamese and Korean adults are underweight.¹
• The state of Hawaii found that the diabetes rate for Native Hawaiians was twice that of the White population.

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are overweight but not obese, 2005. (Persons are considered overweight if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or greater.)

Asians	NHOPI*	Non-Hispanic White	NHOPI*/ Non-Hispanic White	Asians/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
27.6	37.6	34.5	1.1	0.8

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 31.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are obese, 2006. (Persons are considered obese if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater.)

Asians	NHOPI*	Non-Hispanic White	NHOPI*/ Non-Hispanic White	Asians/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
8.3	30.8	24.7	1.2	0.3

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 31.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Age-adjusted percent distributions of selected health behaviors for adults 18 years of age and over, 2004–2006, overweight but not obese

Population	Overweight	Ratio Overweight/ All Asian Population	Ratio Overweight / Whites
All Whites	34.6	--	--
All Asians		--	0.8
Chinese	21.8	0.8	0.6
Filipino	33.0	1.2	1.0
Asian Indian	34.4	1.3	1.0
Japanese	25.9	0.9	0.7
Vietnamese	19.1	0.7	0.5
Korean	27.3	1.0	0.8
Other Asian & NHOPI	29.2	1.1	0.8

Source:  CDC, 2008. Health Characteristics of the Asian Adult Population: United States, 2004-2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad394.pdf[PDF, 476KB]

Age-adjusted percent distributions of selected health behaviors for adults 18 years of age and over, 2004–2006, obese

Population	Obese	Ratio Obese/ All Asian Population	Ratio Obese / Whites
All Whites	23.6	--	--
All Asians	8.1	--	0.3
Chinese	4.2	0.5	0.2
Filipino	14.1	1.7	0.6
Asian Indian	6.0	0.7	0.3
Japanese	8.7	1.1	0.4
Vietnamese	5.3	0.7	0.3
Korean	2.8	0.3	0.1
Other Asian & NHOPI	12.5	1.5	0.5

Source:  CDC, 2008. Health Characteristics of the Asian Adult Population: United States, 2004-2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad394.pdf[PDF, 476KB]

Outpatient visits with counseling or education about diet and nutrition

	Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	23.3	12.6	1.8
Women	21.0	12.7	1.7
Total	22.0	12.6	1.7

Source:  2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 237.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr06/index.html

CHILDREN

Percent of children age 2-17 for whom a doctor or other health provider gave ever advice about amount and kind of physical activity, United States, 2004

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
32.9	32.4	1.0

Source:  2007 National Healthcare Quality Report. Table 1.79a.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html

Percent of children age 2-17 for whom a doctor or other health provider ever gave advice about eating healthy, United States, 2004

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
54.4	53.6	1.0

Source:  2007 National Healthcare Quality Report. Table 1.80a.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html

Outpatient visits with counseling or education about diet and nutrition 0-17 years, 2003-2004

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
18.0	14.3	1.3

Source:  2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 237.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr06/index.html

HEALTH IMPACT OF OBESITY

• More than 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. ²
• People who are overweight are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, high levels of blood fats, and LDL cholesterol ("a fatlike substance") -- all risk factors for heart disease and stroke. ²
• In 2005, Asian Americans were 1.2 times more likely to engage in inactive physical activity.
• From 2003-2004, Asian Americans were 1.4 times more likely to access outpatient counseling on exercise.

Physical Activity:

Inactive physical activity among adults 18 & over: 2006

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
39.8	35.3	1.1

Source:  CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 73.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Some Leisure Time Physical Activity Among Adults 18 & over: 2006

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
29.7	31.0	1.0

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 73.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Regular Leisure Physical Activity Among Adults 18 & over: 2006

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
30.5	33.8	0.9

Source:  CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 73.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Outpatient visits with counseling or education about exercise, 2003-2004

	Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	16.5	9.2	1.8
Women	10.2	8.8	1.2
Total	12.9	9.0	1.4

Source:  2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 237.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr06/index.html

Diabetes:

Age-adjusted percentages of persons 18 years of age and over with diabetes, 2005

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
8.4	6.7	1.3

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 8.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Age-adjusted percentage of adults (men and women) diagnosed with diabetes, 2001-2002

Population	% diagnosed with diabetes	Ratio vs. General Population
Asians	7.8	1.1
U.S. General Public	7.0	--
Cambodians (Lowell, MA)	5.1	0.7
Vietnamese (LA, Orange, and Santa Clara Counties, CA)	5.3	0.8

Source:  CDC, 2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: 53(33): 760-765, Table 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5333.pdf[PDF, 359KB]

% of adults diagnosed with diabetes in Hawaii, 2000-2002

Hawaiian	Filipino	Japanese	White
7.9	7.5	6.6	3.4

Source: Hawaii State Department of Health, 2004. Hawaii Diabetes Report, 2004.
http://www.hawaii.gov/health/family-child-health/chronic-disease/diabetes/pdf/diabetesreport.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Heart Disease:

Age-adjusted percentages of heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006

Asians	Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio	Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
6.8	16.6	11.7	0.6	1.4

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Age-Adjusted Heart Disease Death Rates per 100,000 (2005)

	Asians/Pacific Islanders	Non-Hispanic White	Asians/Pacific Islanders/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	141.1	262.2	0.5
Women	91.9	170.3	0.5

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 36.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Stroke:

Age-adjusted percentages of stroke among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006

Asian	Non-Hispanic White	Asian/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
1.8	2.4	0.8

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Age-Adjusted Stroke Death Rates per 100,000 (2005)

	Asians/Pacific Islanders	Non-Hispanic White	Asians/Pacific Islanders/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	41.5	44.8	0.9
Women	36.3	44.4	0.8

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 37.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

*NHOPI = Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander