Hypertension, abnormal cholesterol, and high body mass index among non-Hispanic Asian adults: United States, 2011-2012.

Non-Hispanic Asian adults constituted 4.9% of the U.S. population in 2012, corresponding to 15.4 million people (2). This group primarily comprises persons of Chinese, Asian Indian, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Japanese descent. The prevalence of hypertension (defined as having blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90 mm Hg or taking blood pressure-lowering medications) among non-Hispanic Asian adults aged 20 and over was 25.6%. As previously reported, this prevalence is similar to that of non-Hispanic white adults and Hispanic adults but lower than that of non-Hispanic black adults (3). Among non-Hispanic Asian adults, the prevalence of hypertension was higher among those who were older or had less education, similar to findings in U.S. adults overall (4,5). The prevalence of high total cholesterol (measured as cholesterol of at least 240 mg/dL) among non-Hispanic Asian adults was similar to that among adults of other race and Hispanic origin groups (6). Non-Hispanic Asian adults had a lower prevalence of low HDL cholesterol (measured as HDL less than 40 mg/dL) than Hispanic persons (6). Non-Hispanic Asian adult men were almost five times more likely than non-Hispanic Asian adult women to have low HDL cholesterol. While adult men in general are known to have a higher prevalence of low HDL cholesterol than adult women (7), the sex difference was larger than in other race and Hispanic origin groups (6). The prevalence of high BMI among non-Hispanic Asian adults (38.6%) was much lower than that previously reported for non-Hispanic white adults (66.7%), non-Hispanic black adults (76.7%), and Hispanic adults (78.8%) (8). BMI is widely used as a measure of body fat. However, at a given BMI level, body fat may vary by sex, age, and race and Hispanic origin. In particular, at a given BMI, Asian adults may have more body fat than white adults (9). Also, morbidity and mortality risk may be influenced by body composition and fat distribution in a manner that is not completely captured by BMI (10). This report builds on recently published estimates of hypertension, cholesterol, and obesity from NHANES 2011–2012 (3,6,11) by providing related estimates for Asian adults by select demographic characteristics. Hypertension, abnormal cholesterol levels, and elevated body weight are important risk factors for major chronic diseases, for which differences by race as well as ethnicity have been reported. The Asian population includes many ethnic groups, and the majority of non-Hispanic Asian adults in the United States are immigrants (12). Note that these estimates are for non-Hispanic Asian persons overall and may not reflect patterns for specific subgroups of Asian persons.