Heterogeneity in Obesity Prevalence Among Asian American Adults
Open accessAbstract
Background: Obesity increases the risk for metabolic and cardiovascular disease, and this risk occurs at lower body mass index (BMI) thresholds in Asian adults than in White adults. The degree to which obesity prevalence varies across heterogeneous Asian American subgroups is unclear because most obesity estimates combine all Asian Americans into a single group. Objective: To quantify obesity prevalence in Asian American subgroups among U.S. adults using both standard BMI categorizations and categorizations tailored to Asian populations. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: United States, 2013 to 2020. Participants: The analytic sample included 2 882 158 adults aged 18 years or older in the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys (2013 to 2020). Participants self-identified as non-Hispanic White ([NHW] n = 2 547 965); non-Hispanic Black ([NHB] n = 263 136); or non-Hispanic Asian ([NHA] n = 71 057), comprising Asian Indian (n = 13 916), Chinese (n = 11 686), Filipino (n = 11 815), Japanese (n = 12 473), Korean (n = 3634), and Vietnamese (n = 2618) Americans. Measurements: Obesity prevalence adjusted for age and sex calculated using both standard BMI thresholds (≥30 kg/m2) and BMI thresholds modified for Asian adults (≥27.5 kg/m2), based on self-reported height and weight. Results: Adjusted obesity prevalence (by standard categorization) was 11.7% (95% CI, 11.2% to 12.2%) in NHA, 39.7% (CI, 39.4% to 40.1%) in NHB, and 29.4% (CI, 29.3% to 29.5%) in NHW participants; the prevalence was 16.8% (CI, 15.2% to 18.5%) in Filipino, 15.3% (CI, 13.2% to 17.5%) in Japanese, 11.2% (CI, 10.2% to 12.2%) in Asian Indian, 8.5% (CI, 6.8% to 10.5%) in Korean, 6.5% (CI, 5.5% to 7.5%) in Chinese, and 6.3% (CI, 5.1% to 7.8%) in Vietnamese Americans. The prevalence using modified criteria (BMI ≥27.5 kg/m2) was 22.4% (CI, 21.8% to 23.1%) in NHA participants overall and 28.7% (CI, 26.8% to 30.7%) in Filipino, 26.7% (CI, 24.1% to 29.5%) in Japanese, 22.4% (CI, 21.1% to 23.7%) in Asian Indian, 17.4% (CI, 15.2% to 19.8%) in Korean, 13.6% (CI, 11.7% to 15.9%) in Vietnamese, and 13.2% (CI, 12.0% to 14.5%) in Chinese Americans. Limitation: Body mass index estimates rely on self-reported data. Conclusion: Substantial heterogeneity in obesity prevalence exists among Asian American subgroups in the United States. Future studies and public health efforts should consider this heterogeneity. Primary Funding Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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In the US, 17.4% of non-Hispanic Asian (22.4% using Asian-specific cutoffs), 49.6% of non-Hispanic Black, 44.8% of Hispanic, and 42.2% of non-Hispanic White adults have obesity.
“The prevalence of obesity in the US is higher: 17.4% of non-Hispanic Asian (22.4% using Asian-specific cutoffs16), 49.6% of non-Hispanic Black, 44.8% of Hispanic, and 42.2% of non-Hispanic White adults have obesity.2”
From Obesity Management in Adults (2023) · cites this paper as [16]
The Results (BMI Category Prevalence) support 22.4% for non-Hispanic Asian adults using the modified BMI cutoff. They instead report standard-cutoff prevalence of 11.7% for non-Hispanic Asian, 39.7% for non-Hispanic Black, and 29.4% for non-Hispanic White adults; the Methods say Hispanic participants were not evaluated. The other percentages in the claim are therefore not supported by this paper. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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- Authors
- Shah, N. S., Luncheon, C., Kandula, N. R., Khan, S. S., Pan, L., Gillespie, C., Loustalot, F., & Fang, J.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of Internal Medicine
- Publisher
- American College of Physicians
- Published
- 2022-11
- Volume
- 175
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1493-1500
- ISSN
- 0003-4819 (ISSN-L)
- 1539-3704
- PMC
- PMC10323861
- OpenAlex
- W4300817745
- Cited by
- 51
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 9.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Annals of Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K23HL157766)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK092949)
- Topics
- 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
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Keywords
- obesity prevalence, Asian Americans, Asian American subgroups, body mass index thresholds, ethnic diversity, Asian Indian Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans, non-Hispanic Black adults, non-Hispanic White adults, metabolic disease risk, cardiovascular risk, health disparities, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Asian, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Obesity, United States, Body Mass Index, Prevalence
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