Institute Clinical Evaluative Sciences Toronto and Ethnic Groups

: Obesity rates rose among all of the ethnic groups, with the largest relative increase among Chinese men, Maria Chiu, a scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto and her team reported in Monday issue of the journal BMJ Open, according to CBC. Until now, the overall trends in cardiovascular risk factors in the general population were known, but any differences between ethnic groups hadn't been studied. Heart disease and stroke risks showed "striking differences" for South Asian men, black men and women and Chinese men over a 12-year period, a new Canadian study suggests. Chinese seniors and nursing students meet in health program Weighty issue for South Asians The study was based on data from almost 220,000 Ontario residents who responded to Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Surveys from 2001 to 2012. "What we found was that obesity in relative terms increased the most among Chinese men," Chiu said in an interview. "Even small increases in weight can increase their risk of diabetes and other major diseases by much more than the white population." Obesity can lead to Type 2 diabetes, which raises the risk of heart attack, stroke and other serious health conditions such as kidney failure. The findings included: Obesity rates among Chinese men more than doubled from about three per cent to nearly six per cent. Diet is getting progressively worse as fruit and vegetable consumption declined in many of the ethnic groups, she said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.