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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% of the population. By the year 2050, it is estimated that Hispanics will number 97 million and constitute 25% of the U.S. population.
Mexican Americans represent the largest Hispanic American subgroup, with 64.3% of the Hispanic population. Central and South Americans represent the second-largest Hispanic American subgroup, with 13.4% of the Hispanic population. The majority of Hispanic Americans live in the south-central and southwestern United States.
Most Hispanic Americans with diabetes (about 90 to 95%) 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 with diabetes (about 5 to 10%) have type 1 diabetes, which usually develops before age 20 and is always treated with insulin.
Table 1. Hispanic American Populations in the United States and Percentage with Diabetes, in two age ranges
Population Group |
% of Total Hispanic Population | Years of Study, % of those age 20-44 with diabetes |
% of those age 45-74 with diabetes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexican-American | 64.3% | 1982-84, 3.8% | 23.9% |
| Mexican-American | 64.3% | 1988-94, -- | 26.2% |
| Puerto Ricans | 10.6% | 1982-84, 41% | 26.1% |
| Cuban Americans | 4.7% | 1982-84, 2.4% | 15.8% |
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).
According to the most recent national study, the NHANES III survey conducted in 1988–94,7 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% for those younger than 20 to as high as 33% for women ages 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. Prevalence in Hispanic Americans is much higher than in Americans without Hispanic ancestry. Among those ages 40 to 74 in the 1988–94 survey, the rate was 11.2% for non-Hispanic whites, but 20.3% for Mexican Americans.
Source: DIABETES from the National Diabetes Clearinghouse