Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander U.S. Youth
The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study
Lenna L. Liu , MD, MPH 1 ,
Joyce P. Yi , PHD 1 ,
Jennifer Beyer , MS 2 ,
Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis , PHD 3 4 ,
Lawrence M. Dolan , MD 5 ,
Dana M. Dabelea , MD, PHD 6 ,
Jean M. Lawrence , SCD, MPH, MSSA 7 ,
Beatriz L. Rodriguez , MD 8 ,
Santica M. Marcovina , PHD, SCD 9 ,
Beth E. Waitzfelder , PHD 8 ,
Wilfred Y. Fujimoto , MD 8 and
for the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group
1 Department of Pediatrics, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington
2 Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
3 Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
4 Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South
Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
5 Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio
6 Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado
7 Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Pasadena, California
8 Pacific Health Research Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii
9 Northwest Lipid Metabolism and Diabetes Research Laboratories, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Corresponding author: Lenna L. Liu, lennall{at}u.washington.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE —Given limited reports on diabetes among U.S. Asian and Pacific Islander youth, we describe the clinical characteristics,
incidence, and prevalence of diabetes among Asian, Pacific Islander, and mixed Asian–Pacific Islander youth.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —Data were collected from 245 Asian, Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific Islander participants in the SEARCH for Diabetes
in Youth Study, a population-based study of diabetes in youth (aged <20 years). Additionally, we estimated the incidence and
prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes for Asian, Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific Islander youth combined.
RESULTS —Most participants with type 2 diabetes were obese (range Asian 71% to Pacific Islander 100%) with mean BMI >33 kg/m 2 . In those with type 1 diabetes, Pacific Islanders were more likely to be obese, with a mean BMI of 26 vs. 20 kg/m 2 for Asian and Asian–Pacific Islander youth ( P < 0.0001). The incidence of type 1 diabetes for youth aged 0–9 years was 6.4 per 100,000 person-years and 7.4 per 100,000
person-years for youth aged 10–19 years. The incidence of type 2 diabetes was 12.1 per 100,000 person-years for youth aged
10–19 years.
CONCLUSIONS —While Asian and Asian–Pacific Islanders with type 1 and type 2 diabetes had lower mean BMIs than Pacific Islanders, all Asian,
Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific Islanders with type 2 diabetes had mean BMIs above adult ethnicity-specific definitions
of obesity. While the majority of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific Islander youth had type 1 diabetes, older Asian,
Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific Islander youth (aged 10–19 years) have an incidence of type 2 diabetes almost double that
of type 1 diabetes. Public health efforts to prevent type 2 diabetes and obesity in Asian, Pacific Islander, and Asian–Pacific
Islander adolescents are needed.
Footnotes
The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work
is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.
DIABETES CARE...

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander U.S. Youth

10.2337/dc09-S205