The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Effects of a Traditional Lifestyle on Obesity in Pima Indians
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The Pima Indians of Arizona have the highest reported prevalences of obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). In parallel with abrupt changes in lifestyle, these prevalences in Arizona Pimas have increased to epidemic proportions during the past decades. To assess the possible impact of the environment on the prevalences of obesity and NIDDM, data were collected on members of a population of Pima ancestry (separation 700–1,000 years ago) living in a remote mountainous location in northwestern Mexico, with a lifestyle contrasting markedly with that in Arizona. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Pima heritage was established by history and by use of Pima language. Measurements of weight, height, body fat (bio-impedance), blood pressure, plasma levels of glucose, cholesterol, and HbA1c were obtained in 19 women (36 ±13 years of age) and 16 men (48 ±14 years of age) and compared with sex-, age- and diabetes status-matched Pimas living in Arizona (10 Arizona Pimas for each Mexican Pima). RESULTS: Mexican Pimas were lighter (64.2 ± 13.9 vs. 90.2 ± 21.1 kg, P < 0.0001; means ± SD) and shorter (160 ± 8 vs. 164 ± 8 cm, P < 0.01) with lower body mass indexes (24.9 ± 4.0 vs. 33.4 ± 7.5 kg/m2, P < 0.0001) and lower plasma total cholesterol levels (146 ± 30 vs. 174 ± 31 mg/dl, P < 0.0001) than Arizona Pimas. Only two women (11%) and one man (6%) had NIDDM, contrasting with the expected prevalences of 37 and 54% in female and male Arizona Pimas, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary investigation shows that obesity, and perhaps NIDDM, is less prevalent among people of Pima heritage living a “traditional” lifestyle than among Pimas living in an “affluent” environment. These findings suggest that, despite a similar potential genetic predisposition to these conditions, a traditional lifestyle, characterized by a diet including less animal fat and more complex carbohydrates and by greater energy expenditure in physical labor, may protect against the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors, obesity, and NIDDM.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“In contrast with the U.S. Pima Indians, they have experienced relatively little recent change in environmental conditions (9,10).”
From Effects of Traditional and Western Environments on Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in Pima Indians in Mexico and the U.S. (2006) · cites this paper as [9]
Citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–375 of 375
Genetic and Molecular Basis of Obesity
Hasan, A., & Mahmood, T. A. (2013) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-416045-3.00003-0 · Cited by 1
Rao, M. V., Rao, A. V., & Mujavar, E. (2014) · Cited by 1
Dobromyslin, V. I., & Megherbi, D. B. (2020) · IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CIBCB) · doi:10.1109/cibcb48159.2020.9277645 · Cited by 1
“To decouple environmental contributions from the shared genetic background, multiple reports [3, 4] compared Pima American Indian population to a genetically-related Pima Mexican Indian population.”
BackgroundBehavioral Interventions for Youth with Type 2 Diabetes
Buynitsky, T., & Rhodes, E. (2014) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118453940.ch33 · Cited by 1
Ara, I., Vicente‐Rodríguez, G., Moreno, L. A., et al. (2009) · Cited by 1
Understanding and Managing Obesity
Corsica, J. A., & Perri, M. G. (2012) · Handbook of Psychology, Second Edition · doi:10.1002/9781118133880.hop209006 · Cited by 1
Sociocultural Aspects of Health Psychology
Whitfield, K. E., Weidner, G., Edwards, C. L., & Thorpe, R. J. (2012) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118133880.hop209023 · Cited by 1
Body mass, obesity and fitness among young men
Deliège, D. (2001) · DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) · Cited by 1
Linde, R. B., & Linde, B. (2001) · Cardiology in Review · doi:10.1097/00045415-200111000-00011 · Cited by 2
“Indeed, individuals who are genetically predisposed to insulin resistance may forestall or even prevent the development of diabetes by staying thin and physically active (44).”
BackgroundNative American Obesity: An Economic Model Of The Thrifty Gene Theory
Richards, T. J., & Patterson, P. M. (2006) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8276.2006.00878.x · Cited by 25
“To the extent that traditional Native American societies defined scarcity in terms of the hunt (Ravussin et al. 1994), (4) implies that the Native protein shadow value is expected to be higher than the shadow value for non-Natives.”
InfluentialThe Genetic Contribution to Obesity
Bastarrachea, R. A., Kent, J. W., Williams, J. T., Cai, G., Cole, S. A., & Comuzzie, A. G. (2006) · Endocrine updates · doi:10.1007/978-0-387-32164-6_4 · Cited by 1
“and exhibits much lower rates of diabetes and obesity [26].”
BackgroundUsing Natural Experiments to Test Environmental Mediation Hypotheses
Rutter, M. L., & Thapar, A. (2016) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy104 · Cited by 1
(2000) · Time to knit · doi:10.1016/s1155-1941(13)56369-4 · Cited by 1
Romero, H., & Cunha, F. (2010) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)
Gairola, A. (2013) · D-Scholarship@Pitt (University of Pittsburgh)
Insulin Resistance: A Genetic Approach. Overview
Larrad, M. T. M., S�nchez, J. L. G., & Ríos, M. S. (2002) · KARGER eBooks · doi:10.1159/000061868
Barretti, D. L. M. (2010) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/d.5.2010.tde-04112010-093205
Morales, C., & Alberto, C. (2011) · Enlighten: Theses (The University of Glasgow)
Beyond Calories: Other Benefits of Macronutrient Substitutes
Hannah, J. S. (1997) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb51810.x
Factors Impacting Body Mass Index of Hispanic Youth in a Weight Loss Program
Hartman, E. M. (2015) · ScholarWorks (Walden University)
Food and environment as predictors of obesity in rural West Virginia
Gecheo, L. W. (2007) · doi:10.33915/etd.4302
“This is well established in the study on Pima Indians who have the same genetic makeup but live in different environments, one group living in Arizona and another group living in Mexico (Ravussin et al, 1994).”
BackgroundVARIANTES GENETICAS DEL GEN KCNQ1 RELACIONADAS CON EL SINDROME METABOLICO Y LA DIABETES TIPO 2
Torres, C., & Rocío, M. (2010) · REMERI - Red Mexicana de Repositorios Institucionales
Genetics of the human obesities
Fumeron, F. (2013) · Obésité · doi:10.1007/s11690-013-0357-x · Cited by 1
Racial Differences in Diabetes Mellitus
Lee, B. L. (2003) · International Ophthalmology Clinics · doi:10.1097/00004397-200343040-00006
A DASH-like diet can decrease cardiovascular risk, but barriers to implementation exist.
Hoogwerf, B. J. (2004) · Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine · doi:10.3949/ccjm.71.9.755
Bases fisiopatológicas de la obesidad
Martínez, G., Jódar, E., & Hawkins, F. G. (2000) · Atención Primaria · doi:10.1016/s0212-6567(00)78535-0
LETTER TO JMG Inbreeding and risk of late onset complex disease
Rudan, I., Rudan, D., Campbell, H. J., Carothers, A., Wright, A., Smolej‐Narančić, N., Janičijević, B., Jin, L., Chakraborty, R., Deka, R., et al. (2015)
NOVEL GENES IN THE LIVER OF DIABETIC PSAMMOMYS OBESUS
Southon, A. G. (2002)
Search for genetic variants conferring susceptibility to obesity and related metabolic traits
Suviolahti, E. (2005) · Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Role of the OX40 ligand/receptor pair in coronary artery disease
Ria, M. (2006) · Figshare
Harbron, J. (2011) · SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University)
Epidemiology, aetiology and pathogenesis of diabetes in ethnic groups
Goff, L. M. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119121725.ch27
Therapy of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Bloomgarden, Z. T. (2004) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-6260-0_32
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF OBESITY- AN INSIGHT INTO THE MOLECULAR MECHANISM
Remesh, A. (2013)
Muehlenbein, M. P. (2010) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511781193.033
Regulação anômala da autofagia em tecido adiposo na obesidade
Nuñez, C. E. C. (2013) · doi:10.47749/t/unicamp.2013.905630
Herrmann, F. (2011) · Open University of Cape Town (University of Cape Town)
Modulação do metabolismo muscular da glicose pela ação hipotalâmica da leptina
Roman, E. A. D. F. R. (2011) · doi:10.47749/t/unicamp.2011.829153
syndromeof dyslipidaemia in the metabolic
Kolovou, G. D., Anagnostopoulou, K. K., & Cokkinos, D. V. (2006)
The effect of tea polyphenols on chronic disease: obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and colon cancer
Bose, M. (2007) · Rutgers University Community Repository (Rutgers University) · doi:10.7282/t3t72hwk
Environment and Gene Expression
Salguero, M. L. (2007) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-1-4160-2954-0.50007-7
Acknowledging and Reversing the Toxic Environment
Brownell, K. D. (2006) · doi:10.3109/9781420018905-20
The Nutrients – Deficiencies, Surfeits, and Food-Related Disorders
Kiple, K. F., & Ornelas, K. C. (2000) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/chol9780521402149.084
Futuyma, D. J. (2010) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511781193.002
Hilsendager, C. A. (2014) · Digital Commons - DU (University of Denver)
Integrative medicine: Agriculture’s new opportunity
Plotnikoff, G. A. (2002) · eCommons (Cornell University)
Malecki, M. T., Frey, J., Klupa, T., et al. (2002) · Clinical Diabetology
Rani, V., Кulandaivelan, S., Chaturvedi, R., & Yadav, R. K. (2021) · Current Women s Health Reviews · doi:10.2174/1573404817666210310163107
Mackie, B. D., Harrison, D. G., & Zafari, A. M. (2009) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-84882-637-3_23
Obesity - is it a genetic disorder?
Oos, R. J. F. L., & Ouchard, C. B. (2003)
Abitudini ed ereditarietà: la rivincita di Lamarck?
Capitanini, A., & Capitanini, F. (2021) · Giornale di Clinica Nefrologica e Dialisi · doi:10.33393/gcnd.2021.2289
Preface by the Editorial Committee
(1950) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.1.010150.100001
(1998) · Obesity Research · doi:10.1002/j.1550-8528.1998.tb00692.x
Russo, P., Lauria, F., & Siani, A. (2010) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-6039-9_14
Preface by the Editorial Committee
(1953) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.4.010153.100001
The Genetic Determinants of Common Obesity-Susceptibility
Loos, R. J. F. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-52031-5_11
Acknowledging and Reversing the Toxic Environment
Geier, A. B., & Brownell, K. D. (2006) · Fundamental and clinical cardiology · doi:10.3109/9781420018905.018
Genetics of the Human Obesities
Fumeron, F. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-2-8178-0343-2_24
Highlights of the Autumn 2002 meeting of the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists
(2003) · Practical Diabetes · doi:10.1002/pdi.448
Preface by the Editorial Committee
(1967) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.18.021904.100001
Prediction of type II diabetes using linear regression
Wu, B. (2022) · International Conference on Biomedical and Intelligent Systems (IC-BIS) · doi:10.1117/12.2660300
“The Pima Indian dataset was thus employed in this study used critical diagnostic parameters to predict if a person suffers of getting diabetes [10].”
Method(2012) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/bk9781849733250-00105
(2012) · Royal Society of Chemistry eBooks · doi:10.1039/bk9781849733250-00266
Diabetes como causa básica e associada do óbito na cidade do Recife.
Silva, L. D. P., de Castro, C. C. L., & Scripnic, D. S. C. D. O. (2022) · Nutrivisa Revista de Nutrição e Vigilância em Saúde · doi:10.59171/nutrivisa-2022v9e9940
Niclou, A. M., Esparza‐Romero, J., Urquídez-Romero, R., Lam, Y. Y., Rood, J., Schulz, L. O., Bennett, P. H., Valencia, M. E., & Ravussin, É. (2024) · Obesity · doi:10.1002/oby.24061 · Cited by 2
Self-citationGénétique des obésités humaines
Fumeron, F. (2013) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-2-8178-0332-6_24
Mendoza-Caamal, E. C., Barajas-Olmos, F., García-Ortiz, H., et al. (2020) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.11999253
Kaushik, B., Gupta, N., Kour, N., et al. (2026) · Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems · doi:10.1016/j.chemolab.2026.105774
Erika-Renáta, S., Abel, T.-P., & Szabó, M. I. M. (2026) · Orvostudományi Értesítö · doi:10.2478/orvtudert-2026-0010
“Previous studies have shown that the Roma population generally exhibits lower levels of physical activity, poorer educational attainment, lower employment rates, and more limited access to healthcare services and health-related information [3,8,9].”
InfluentialPrediabetes Genes in Pima and Amish
Baier, L. J. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3314-9_5
“The interaction of genes and environment can in fl uence body weight and risk for type 2 diabetes [ 21 ] , and it has been proposed that certain populations such as American Indians have a genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (“diabetes genotype”) where the disease is unmasked by changes in environment or lifesty…”
BackgroundSalguero, M. L. (2009) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-84-458-1911-1.50003-8
Metadata
- Authors
- Ravussin, E., Valencia, M. E., Esparza, J., Bennett, P. H., & Schulz, L. O.
- Affiliations
- Clinical Diabetes and Nutrition Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health Phoenix, Arizona
- Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (MX)
- Nutrition Division Centro de Investigacion en Alimentacion y Desarrollo Sonora, Mexico
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (US)
- Venue
- Diabetes Care
- Publisher
- American Diabetes Association
- Published
- 1994-09-01
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1067-1074
- ISSN
- 0149-5992 (ISSN-L)
- 1935-5548
- OpenAlex
- W2069685883
- Cited by
- 376
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 20.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Diabetes Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Indigenous Health and Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Keywords
- Pima Indians, obesity, type 2 diabetes, traditional way of life, lifestyle modification, body mass index, serum cholesterol, HbA1c, physical activity, energy expenditure, cardiovascular risk factors, genetic susceptibility, diet and obesity, blood pressure, glucose concentration
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Arizona, Blood Glucose, Body Composition, Cholesterol, Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Diet, Female, Glycated Hemoglobin, Humans, Indians, North American, Life Style, Male, Mexico, Middle Aged, Obesity, Exercise, Causality, Prevalence, Diabetes Complications
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
