- Diabetic Gourmet Magazine - https://diabeticgourmet.com -

Diabetes in Hispanic Americans

Diabetes in Hispanic Americans is a serious health challenge because of the increased prevalence of diabetes in this population, the greater number of risk factors for diabetes in Hispanics, the greater incidence of several diabetes complications, and the growing number of people of Hispanic ethnicity in the United States.

The following statistics illustrate the magnitude of diabetes among Hispanic Americans:


What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by high levels of blood glucose. It results from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Diabetes can be associated with serious complications and premature death, but people with diabetes can take measures to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences.

Most Hispanic Americans with diabetes (about 90 to 95 percent) have type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes usually develops in adults and is caused by the body's resistance to the action of insulin and to impaired insulin secretion. It can be treated with diet, exercise, diabetes pills, and injected insulin. A small number of Hispanic Americans (about 5 to 10 percent) have type 1 diabetes, which usually develops before age 20 and is always treated with insulin.

Diabetes can be diagnosed by three methods:

Each test must be confirmed, on another day, by any one of the above methods. The criteria used to diagnose diabetes were revised in 1997.1

Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷


Major Studies of Diabetes in Hispanic Americans

Five population studies conducted in the past 20 years provide the majority of information that exists about the incidence and progression of diabetes among Hispanic Americans. The five studies are briefly described below:


How Many Hispanic Americans Have Diabetes?

Hispanic Americans are the second-largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States. In 1998, there were 30 million Hispanics in the United States, representing 11 percent of the population. By the year 2050, it is estimated that Hispanics will number 97 million and constitute 25 percent of the U.S. population.7 [1]

Mexican Americans represent the largest Hispanic American subgroup, with 64.3 percent of the Hispanic population. Central and South Americans represent the second-largest Hispanic American subgroup, with 13.4 percent of the Hispanic population.8 [2] The majority of Hispanic Americans live in the south-central and southwestern United States.

Table 1 provides a list of Hispanic subgroups, the percentage of the Hispanic population they each represent, and the percentage of the population that has diabetes for two age ranges.

Figure 1 [3] shows the prevalence of diabetes in Mexican American men and women based on the most recent national study, the NHANES III survey conducted in 1988-94.6 [4] The proportion of the Mexican American population that has diabetes (defined by medical history or fasting plasma glucose of 126 mg/dL or greater) rises from less than 1 percent for those younger than 20 to as high as 33 percent for women age 60 to 74. In almost every age group, prevalence is higher among women than men.

About one-third of total diabetes among Hispanic Americans is undiagnosed. This is similar to the proportion for other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. 6

Prevalence in Hispanic Americans is much higher than in Americans without Hispanic ancestry. Among those age 40 to 74 in the 1988-94 survey, the rate was 11.2 percent for non-Hispanic whites, but 20.3 percent for Mexican Americans--in other words, the prevalence of diabetes in Mexican Americans is 1.8 times higher than in non-Hispanic whites. 6

Table 1.

Hispanic American Populations in the United States and Percentage With Diabetes

Hispanic American population
% of total Hispanic population
Year of study
% with diabetes, age 20-44
% with diabetes, age 45-74
Mexican Americans
64.3
1982-84
3.8
23.9
Mexican Americans
64.3
1988-94
--
26.2
Central/South Americans
13.4
--
--
--
Puerto Ricans
10.6
1982-84
4.1
26.1
Cuban Americans
4.7
1982-84
2.4
15.8
Other Hispanic groups
7.0
--
--
--

-- No data available.

Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷

Source: References 5, 6, and 8.

Note: In this table, diabetes is defined using earlier guidelines by a medical history of diabetes or a diabetic oral glucose tolerance test (fasting glucose of 140 mg/dL or greater or 2-hour glucose of 200 mg/dL or greater).


Figure 1.
Prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in Mexican Americans, U.S., 1988-94


SOURCE: Reference 6

Note: Diabetes includes both previously diagnosed diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes (fasting plasma glucose of 126 mg/dL or greater).


What Factors Increase the Chance of Developing Type 2 Diabetes?

The frequency of diabetes in Hispanic American adults is influenced by the same risk factors that are associated with type 2 diabetes in other populations. Two categories of risk factors increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes. The first is genetics. The second comprises medical and lifestyle risk factors, including impaired glucose tolerance, gestational diabetes, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, obesity, and physical inactivity.

Genetic Risk Factors

A family history of diabetes increases the chance that people will develop diabetes. The San Antonio Heart Study showed that the prevalence of diabetes among Mexican Americans who have first-degree relatives (e.g., parents) with diabetes was twice as great as for those with no family history of diabetes.

Having American Indian or African genes (populations with a high prevalence of diabetes) is also thought to be a factor that causes the higher rates of diabetes in Hispanics. Hispanics, like all populations, inherit their susceptibility to diabetes from their ancestors. Hispanics have three groups of ancestors--Spaniards, American Indians, and Africans. Both American Indians and Africans have high rates of diabetes. Figure 2 [5] shows the genetic origins of major Hispanic subgroups. 9

Although Cuban Americans have both American Indian and African ancestry, neither of these genetic roots contributes more than 20 percent to the current Cuban American gene pool. This may partly explain why Cuban Americans have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic white Americans, although not as high as the other Hispanic groups.

Figure 2.
Genetic Origins of the Major Hispanic Subgroups in the United States


Source: Reference 9.


Medical Risk Factors

Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷

Figure 3.
Prevalence of overweight individuals among whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans in the population, 1988-91


Source: Reference 9.

Note: Diabetes includes both previously diagnosed diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes (fasting plasma glucose of 126 mg/dL or greater).


How Does Diabetes Affect Hispanic Young People?

Mexican American children in Colorado had lower rates of type 1 diabetes than non-Hispanic white children.15 [7] However, the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Puerto Rican children in Philadelphia was similar to that of white children.16 [8] Genetic, immunologic, and environmental factors are thought to be involved in the development of type 1 diabetes. Recent reports indicate an increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among Mexican American youth, especially among those who are overweight.17

Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷


How Does Diabetes Affect Hispanic Women During Pregnancy?

Gestational diabetes, in which blood glucose levels are elevated above normal during pregnancy, occurs in about 2 to 5 percent of all pregnant women. Perinatal problems such as macrosomia (large body size) and neonatal hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) are higher in these pregnancies. The women generally return to normal glucose levels after childbirth. Mexican American women, especially when they are overweight, have higher rates of gestational diabetes than non-Hispanic white women.

Once a woman has had gestational diabetes, she has an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes in future pregnancies.

In addition, experts estimate that about half of women with gestational diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 20 years of the pregnancy. For Mexican American women, this may be as great as 12 percent per year. 10


How Do Diabetes Complications Affect Hispanic Americans?


Addressing the Problem of Diabetes in Hispanic Americans

Diabetes Prevention Program

In 1996, NIDDK launched its Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). The goal of this research effort was to learn how to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

The findings of the DPP, which were released in August 2001, showed that people at high risk for type 2 diabetes could sharply lower their chances of developing the disease through diet and exercise. In addition, treatment with the oral diabetes drug metformin also reduced diabetes risk, though less dramatically. These results were so striking that the DPP's external data monitoring board advised ending the trial early.

Participants randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention reduced their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. On average, this group maintained their physical activity at 30 minutes per day, usually with walking or other moderate intensity exercise, and lost 5 to 7 percent of their body weight. Participants randomized to treatment with metformin reduced their risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 31 percent.

Content Continues Below ⤵ ↷

Of the 3,234 participants enrolled in the DPP, 45 percent were from minority groups that suffer disproportionately from type 2 diabetes: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians. The trial also recruited other groups known to be at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, including individuals age 60 and older, women with a history of gestational diabetes, and people with a first-degree relative with type 2 diabetes. Participants ranged from age 25 to 85, with an average age of 51.

Lifestyle intervention successfully reduced the risk of getting type 2 diabetes for both men and women, and across all the ethnic groups. It reduced the development of diabetes in people age 60 and older by 71 percent. Metformin was also effective in men and women and in all the ethnic groups, but was relatively ineffective in the older volunteers and in those who were less overweight.

Researchers will continue to analyze the data to determine whether the interventions reduced cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, major causes of death in people with type 2 diabetes. The DPP is the first major trial to show that diet and exercise can effectively delay diabetes in a diverse American population of overweight people with IGT.


Points To Remember

  • In 1998, about 1.2 million Hispanic Americans were known to have diabetes.

  • About 675,000 Hispanic Americans have diabetes but do not know it.

  • One in every four Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans age 45 or older has diabetes. One in every six Cuban Americans in this age group has diabetes.

  • Being overweight or physically inactive is a major risk factor for developing diabetes. Hispanic Americans have high rates of both of these risk factors.

  • Healthy lifestyles, such as eating healthy foods and getting regular exercise, are particularly important for people who are at increased risk of diabetes. Some diabetes may be prevented with weight control and regular physical activity.

  • Hispanic Americans with diabetes have a higher incidence of diabetes complications such as eye and kidney disease than non-Hispanic whites. However, they may have lower rates of heart disease.

  • If Hispanics can prevent or control their diabetes, their risk of complications will decrease.

References

  1. American Diabetes Association. (1997). Report of the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Care, 20, 1183-1197.
  2. Hanis, C. L., Ferrell, R. E., Baron, S. A., Aguilar, L., Garza-Ibarra, A., Tulloch, B. R., Garcia, C. A., & Schull, W. J. (1983). Diabetes among Mexican-Americans in Starr County, Texas. American Journal of Epidemiology, 118, 659-672.
  3. Stern, M. P., Gaskill, S. P., Hazuda, H. P., Gardner, L. I., & Haffner, S. M. (1983). Does obesity explain excess prevalence of diabetes among Mexican Americans? Results of the San Antonio Heart Study. Diabetologia, 24, 272-277.
  4. Hamman, R. F., Marshall, J. A., Baxter, J., Kahn, L. B., Mayer, E. J., Orleans, M., Murphy, J. R., & Lezotte, D. C. (1989). Methods and prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in a biethnic Colorado population: The San Luis Valley Diabetes Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 129, 295-311.
  5. Flegal, K. M., Ezzati, T. M., Harris, M. I., Haynes, S. G., Juarez, R. Z., Knowler, W. C., Perez-Stable, E. J., & Stern, M. P. (1991). Prevalence of diabetes in Mexican Americans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans from the Hispanic Health and Examination Survey (HHANES), 1982-84. Diabetes Care, 14 (Suppl. 3), 628-638.
  6. Harris, M. I., Flegal, K. M., Cowie, C. C., Eberhardt, M. S., Goldstein, D. E., Little, R. R., Wiedmeyer, H.-M., & Byrd-Holt, D. D. (1998). Prevalence of diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, and impaired glucose tolerance in U.S. adults: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1988-94. Diabetes Care, 21, 518-524.
  7. U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1996). Population projections of the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin: 1995 to 2050 (Current Population Reports No. P25-1130). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  8. U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1993). The Hispanic population in the United States (Current Population Reports No. P20-475). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
  9. Hanis, C. L., Hewett-Emmett, D., Bertin, T. K., & Schull, W. J. (1991). Origins of U.S. Hispanics: Implications for diabetes. Diabetes Care, 14 (Suppl. 3), 618-627.
  10. Peters, R. K., Kjos, S. L., Xiang, A., & Buchanan, T. A. (1996). Long-term diabetogenic effect of single pregnancy in women with previous gestational diabetes, Lancet, 347, 227-230.
  11. Stern, M. P., & Mitchell, B. D. (1995). Diabetes in Hispanic Americans. In National Diabetes Data Group (Ed.), Diabetes in America (2nd ed., NIH Publication No. 95-1468, pp. 613-630). Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
  12. Troiano, R. P., Flegal, K. M., Kuczmarski, R. J., Campbell, S. M., & Johnson, C. L. (1995). Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 149, 1085-1091.
  13. Kuzmarski, R. J., Flegal, K. M., Campbell, S. M., & Johnson, C. L. (1994). Increasing prevalence of overweight among U.S. adults. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), 1960 to 1991. JAMA, 272, 205-211.
  14. Crespo, C. J., Keteyian, S. J., Heath, G. W., & Sempos, C. T. (1996). Leisure-time physical activity among U.S. adults. Archives of Internal Medicine, 156, 93-98.
  15. Kostraba, J., Gay, E. C., Cai, Y., Cruikshanks, K. J., Rewers, M. J., Klingensmith, G. J., Chase, H. P., & Hamman, R. F. (1992). Incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in Colorado. American Journal of Epidemiology, 3, 232-238.
  16. Lipman, T. H. (1993). The epidemiology of type 1 diabetes in children 0-14 yr of age in Philadelphia. Diabetes Care, 16, 922-925.
  17. Neufeld, N. D., Raffel, L. J., Landon, C., Chen, Y. D. I., & Vadheim, C. M. (1998). Early presentation of type 2 diabetes in Mexican-American youth. Diabetes Care, 21, 80-86.
  18. Harris, M. I., Klein, R., Cowie, C. C., Rowland, M., & Byrd-Holt, D. D. (1998). Is the risk of diabetic retinopathy greater in non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans than in non-Hispanic whites with type 2 diabetes? A U.S. population study. Diabetes Care, 21, 1230-1235.
  19. Harris, M. I., Cowie, C. C., & Eastman, R. C. (1993). Symptoms of sensory neuropathy in adults with diabetes in the U.S. population. Diabetes Care, 16, 1446-1452.


NDIC