title: The biracial Asian population in California: an examination of health profiles and chronic conditions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine health outcomes and chronic conditions for the biracial Asian population in California. We hypothesized that the biracial population will display intermediate (or an average of) outcomes in comparison to their monoracial counterparts.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was cross-sectional. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, multivariable regression models predicted health outcomes (ie, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, disability status, BMI, and general health) and compared health outcomes among various (mono- and bi-) racial and ethnic groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 238,897 adult (aged ≥ 18 years) respondents after merging iterations of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) administered in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate results revealed that Whites reported better health overall than biracial Asians and other monoracial groups. Biracial Asians displayed BMI ranges that were intermediate between their monoracial constituents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMI is a more proximal health outcome and is more sensitive to lifestyles and behaviors. As a result, BMI may be a better indicator than chronic diseases in showing that biracial Asians have adopted health behaviors and practices that fall between their mono-racial counterparts. Future epidemiological research should examine the prevalence of more proximal health outcomes among biracial Asians and assess how it differs by developmental age.
authors.forename: Anh Bao
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Breen
authors.forename: Trenette T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moser
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002140:California; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000208:ethnology*; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D015995:Prevalence; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult