Asian American Research Journal

South Asians represent a large portion of the world's population, around 1.9 billion. This accounts for nearly 24% of the world’s population.¹ The South Asian population is affected by a disproportionately high rate of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). In New York City alone, foreign-born South Asians are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes compared to other foreign-born Asians.² Additionally, despite having lower Body Mass Index (BMI) levels, South Asians face an early onset and higher prevalence of metabolic disease compared to their international Western counterparts. While recent work has brought forward information on the South Asian
community, little work exists to discuss the multifactorial contributions to the high prevalence of T2D in South Asians and effective solution mechanisms for this group. Existing studies focus on isolated factors like BMI or migration, but not integrated frameworks.^3,4 In this paper, I will explore how the South Asian T2D crisis is driven by unique biological, genetic, and environmental factors that may render standard clinical interventions ineffective, suggesting a need for ethnic-specific diagnostic guidelines and culturally tailored interventions.