Study examines rates of obesity and related diseases among ethnic groups

NEW YORK A recent study found high obesity rates in most but not all racial and ethnic groups and a possible risk of future increases in obesity-related diseases and healthcare costs.

The study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, appeared Monday on the Web site of the medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine. It found that 60 to 85 percent of white, black and Hispanic Americans were overweight, while 30 to 50 percent were obese. Among Chinese-Americans, rates were 33 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Based on the low rates among Chinese-Americans, the study concluded that high obesity rates “should not be considered inevitable.”

It also found high rates of hypertension and diabetes in obese people despite the use of anti-hypertensive and anti-diabetic medication.

The study used a sample of 6,814 people aged 45 to 84 who did not have cardiovascular disease between 2000 and 2002. It studied the link between the obesity epidemic and cardiovascular disease risk by examining obesity’s prevalence and its relationship to cardiovascular disease risk factors and subclinical vascular disease.