Ethnicity and type 2 diabetes in Asian Indian migrants in Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

The aim of this review was to present et-hnic differences in body size and body composition in Asian Indian migrants in New Zealand, associated with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, through the comparison with other ethnic groups in New Zea-land. International databases including PubMed and Google scholar were consulted, as well as the websites of the World Health Organization and International Diabetes Federation. About 74 studies out of 128 pub-lications were selected to ensure relevance to the topic of the review. Seven research projects were presented for the body size and body composition of Asian In-dian migrants in New Zealand. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes of 8.6% in Asian Indians in New Zealand is still higher than in their homeland, owing to their ethni-city, genetic predisposition, sedentary lifestyle and al-tered nutrition, and other psychosocial factors related to migration and living conditions like stress at work and depression. For the same body mass index, in com-parison with people of other ethnic groups in New Zea-land Asian Indians had more total body fat, higher per-cent body fat, more central fat, less lean mass and ap-pendicular skeletal muscle mass. Central obesity was associated with insulin resistance and low grade syste-mic inflammation. Considering the evidence that type 2 diabetes develops ten years earlier in Asian Indians than in other populations, further studies are warranted to shed some light on the still incompletely understood metabolic syndrome and " thin-fat " Indian phenotype.