ABSTRACT
There are some clear differences in the mortality patterns, health status, and health risk factors between ethnic minorities when compared to each other and to the Euro-American population. In addition, the four major ethnic or minority groups in the United States are comprised of subgroups, each of whom often have very different characteristics from one another. The information on health risk factors in different cultural groups is limited. Epidemiological data based on national samples are available for African Americans and regional data on Hispanic Americans from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES; National Center for Health Statistics, 1985). The HHANES sampled three Hispanic groups (Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans, and Puerto Ricans) in the United States in areas where they lived in significant numbers. National baseline data are lacking for American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Asian American and Pacific Islander populations (Yu & Whitted, 1997). The information available for the latter two ethnic minorities is based on surveys of subpopulations and cannot be generalized. Until we are able to obtain national epidemiological data for American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian and Pacific Islander populations and identify the characteristics of the specific major subgroups, our information on the health risk patterns will be incomplete.
