Type 2 Diabetes among 6 Asian Ethnic Groups in California: The Nexus of Ethnicity, Gender, and Generational Status

Objectives. We examined associations between generational status and age-adjusted type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among Asians living in California. Methods. We abstracted data on 7,188 Asian Americans of six ethnicities from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey. Age-and ethnicity-specific logistic regression analyses were used to model prevalence of T2DM based on 29 generational status and language spoken at home. Results. Second-generation Asian men and first-generation Asian women had higher T2DM prevalence compared with their White peers. Such a trend was observed among Chinese and Filipino men, and Filipina and Korean women. In addition, Filipinas who spoke only English at home had lower odds of T2DM than other Filipinas (OR=0.3, 95% CI: 0.1-1.0) while the relationship was reversed among Filipino men (OR=3.2, 95% CI 1.0-10.1). Conclusions. Associations between generational status and T2DM among Asian Americans are non-linear and strongly influenced by gender and ethnicity.