NEW YORK — On March 29, the New York City Department of Health issued its first report that compares health behaviors and outcomes among different Asian populations in the city, as well as against overall measures for all New York residents.
An estimated 1.2 million people in the city identify as Asian, or 14 percent of the city’s population. It found that New York’s Asian population are the city’s thinnest demographic group.
Just 36 percent of Asians say they are overweight or obese, compared with 51 percent of whites, 66 percent of Blacks, and 68 percent of Latinos.
Broken down further, Korean Americans have the lowest overweight/obesity rate, with just one in five saying they were too heavy.
Among the Chinese, the rate was 30 percent, and with Filipinos, it was 33 percent. South Asians (Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali) had weight similar to whites, with half reporting being obese or overweight, the survey found.
Part of the reason that Asian New Yorkers have stayed so trim may have stemmed from the fact they stay away from booze.
Asians had the lowest rate of binge drinking — about one in 10 — compared with 24 percent for whites, 18 percent for Latinos, and 13 percent for Blacks.
About 14 percent of Asians smoke. But Asian men were five times more likely to smoke than women — 23 percent versus 4 percent.