Institute Clinical Evaluative Sciences

: While obesity levels rose among all ethnic groups and sexes, the biggest increase was observed in Chinese men, whose rate more than doubled during the study period. "We found that the most striking difference was among the prevalence of diabetes," said lead researcher Dr, according to Huffington Post Canada. Maria Chiu, a scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto. "It was most stark among South Asian men. An Ontario study determined that from 2001 to 2012, diabetes rates more than doubled among South Asian men and almost doubled among black women. The prevalence of diabetes doubled over the 12-year period we looked at, from seven per cent to 15 per cent, and among black women it also increased, from about six per cent to 12 per cent." The study, published Monday in the journal BMJ Open, analyzed data from almost 220,000 Ontario residents who responded to Statistics Canada Canadian Community Health Surveys from 2001 to 2012. Poor diet was a strong indicator behind the elevation in the risk for heart attack and stroke, said Chiu. It is believed to be the first in Canada to examine ethnic-specific cardiovascular risk-factor trends over time. "We know that people who come to Canada are generally healthier to begin with — this is the healthy immigrant effect — and then the longer they stay here, they pick up the bad habits of the Western culture," said Chiu. "For example, they eat more fatty foods, they eat more meat, more processed foods, as well as eat between meals." The analysis showed that black women and men and South Asian men had the greatest increases in risk factors for declining cardiovascular health over the period. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.