The Prevalence of Obesity in Ethnic Admixture Adults

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the prevalence of obesity in ethnic admixture adults varies systematically from the average of the prevalence estimates for the ethnic groups with whom they share a common ethnicity. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The sample included 215,000 adults who reported one or more ethnicities, height, weight, and other characteristics through a mailed survey. RESULTS: The highest age-adjusted prevalence of overweight (BMI>or=25) was in Hawaiian/Latino men (88%; n=41) and black/Latina women (74.5%; n=79), and highest obesity (BMI>or=30) rates were in Hawaiian/Latino men (53.7%; n=41) and Hawaiian women (39.2%, n=1,247). The prevalence estimates for most admixed groups were similar to or higher than the average of the prevalences for the ethnic groups with whom they shared common ethnicities. For instance, the prevalence of overweight/obesity in five ethnic admixtures-Asian/white, Hawaiian/white, Hawaiian/Asian, Latina/white, and Hawaiian/Asian/white ethnic admixtures-was significantly higher (P<0.0001) than the average of the prevalence estimates for their component ethnic groups. DISCUSSION: The identification of individuals who have a high-risk ethnic admixture is important not only to the personal health and well-being of such individuals, but could also be important to future efforts in order to control the epidemic of obesity in the United States.