Study: Diabetics in Asia Are Younger, Thinner

Asia’s diabetics are also thinner: Reviewing 20 years of research on diabetes in Asia, the study’s authors, scientists Frank Hu of Harvard’s School of Public Health and Juliana Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, found that in Asian populations the risk of diabetes starts at a lower Body Mass Index, or BMI, a measure calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared.

This is in alignment with research a friend of mine has been conducting in Palo Alto.

Because of the metabolic mismatch Chan describes, some people may lack the cells to store excess fat. Instead of bunching around the buttocks or amassing on the arm, extra fat builds in other places, like the liver. Many Asian people, particularly South Asians, are also more prone to abdominal obesity, the study noted. Skinny people with thick middles are particularly prone to developing Type II Diabetes, which helps explain why the disease is spreading in places where people are, on average, quite thin.