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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Minority Health

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Diabetes and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

  • In 2018, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, as compared to the non-Hispanic white population.
  • In 2018, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were 2.5 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes.
  • In 2014, American Samoans had the highest diabetes rate among surveyed Pacific Islander sub-populations. Their rate was 2.8 times higher than the national white population.

Diagnosed Cases of Diabetes

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over with diabetes, 2018
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Non-Hispanic White Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / White Ratio
19.8 8.0 2.5

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-4a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over with diabetes, 2018

Population Percent Population / White Ratio
White 7.9 --
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 15.2 1.9
Native Hawaiian 14.2 1.8
Pacific Islander 17.7 2.2
Samoan 22.1 2.8
Guamanian or Chamorro 14.8 1.9
Other Pacific Islander 15.8 2.0

Source; CDC, 2017. Health Conditions and Behaviors of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Persons in the United States, 2014. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 3, No. 40. Table 9.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_03/sr03_040.pdf

National Diabetes Surveillance System
National data not available at this time.

Death Rates

Age-adjusted diabetes death rates per 100,000 (2018)
  Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander< Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male 56.5 24.3 2.3
Female 40.1 14.3 2.8
Total 48.1 18.9 2.5

Source: CDC 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 69, No. 13. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr69-13-508.pdf [PDF | 2.05MB]

Risk Factors

There are several risk factors related to diabetes. Some of these risk factors are:

Obesity and Overweight - See Obesity and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders
Hypertension - See Heart Disease and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders
High Cholesterol - See Heart Disease and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders
Cigarette Smoking - See Heart Disease and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

Treatment

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over with diabetes who had a foot examination, 2017
Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander Non-Hispanic White Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
56.6 70.0 0.8

Source: CDC 2021. Healthy People 2020 Database. Table D-9.
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/Data/default.aspx

Last Modified: 3/1/2021 11:12:00 AM