I dont understand why certain ethnicities are prone to Type 2 diabetes?

[pooner]

I'm doing a paper on diabetes because it runs in my family, and i am reading about how native americans, hispanics and blacks are at a much higher risk to develop the disease than non-hispanic, non native american whites. Yes i realize that certain minority groups may live in poverty, and of course that leaves them with a small grocery budget = cheap unhealthy foods. But that doesn't mean their ETHNICITY has anything to do with developing diabetes? what the hell?

please tell me your thoughts on this!

[Dtownfb]

if you think it affects certain ethnic groups because of poverty, you have a lot to learn.

You have to look at each ethnic groups ancenstry. In other words for African Americans, you need to study the diets of their ancestors in Africa. Then you need to study slave trading because they loaded the ships with as many slaves as possible and provided very little food so only the strongest survived (study how not having adequate amounts of food affects the body and you'll begin to understand). Also look at how the slave masters bred the slaves once they were in America. Once you get to that point, then you need to look at the Great Depression and other eras of poor economic times and study how and what people ate. Then do it for the other ethnic groups you mentioned. Then you will see why ethnic groups you mentioned have a higher risk for certain diseases including diabetes and high blood pressure.

Diabetes is prevalent now because we are eating more and exercising less. Our forefathers walked more then we do and ate far less. They also ate less processed foods (frozen foods; processed meats, fast food, etc.).

This should get you started on your paper.

[Maryn Bittner]

Ethnicity accounts for a lot more than how we look. It's the result of a great many generations of a limited gene pool, which strengthens traits, both positive and negative.

If you go back far enough, for instance, you may find that being tall helped ancient people find game, or spot predators. Tall tribes thrived because of the trait, reinforced by tall men and tall women marrying and breeding--but being tall also contributes to increased incidence of Marfan's syndrome. Although game and predators aren't much of a concern for most of the world's people these days, some tall people still have Marfan's. It's in their genes.

Similar ethnic traits occur in groups subject to diabetes. It's a combination of environment--the poverty and poor diet you noted--and genetic predispositions. You'd find similar results for certain cancers and assorted genetic diseases like Taye-Sachs (spelling?), which occur mainly in certain very limited populations.