OBJECTIVE — To compare diabetes prevalence among Asian Americans by World Health Organization and U.S. BMI classifications. RESEARCH DESIGN ANDMETHODS — Data on Asian American adults (n 7,414)

from the National Health Interview Survey for 1997–2005 were analyzed. Diabetes prevalence was estimated across weight and ethnic group strata. RESULTS — Regardless of BMI classification, Asian Indians and Filipinos had the highest prevalence of overweight (34–47 and 35–47%, respectively, compared with 20–38 % in Chi-nese; P 0.05). Asian Indians also had the highest ethnic-specific diabetes prevalence (ranging from 6–7 % among the normal weight to 19–33 % among the obese) compared with non-Hispanic whites: odds ratio (95 % CI) for Asian Indians 2.0 (1.5–2.6), adjusted for age and sex, and 3.1 (2.4–4.0) with additional adjustment for BMI. CONCLUSIONS — Asian Indian ethnicity, but not other Asian ethnicities, was strongly associated with diabetes. Weight classification as a marker of diabetes risk may need to accom-modate differences across Asian subgroups. Diabetes Care 32:1644–1646, 2009 In 2005–2006, the U.S. Asian popula-tion grew by 3.2%, to 14.9 million, thehighest percentage growth of any race/ ethnic group during that time period (1). Compared with other race/ethnic groups, Asians have higher adiposity per unit of BMI (2), leading to increased risk of type 2 diabetes at lower BMIs (3). This led to the 2002 consensus statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) on BMI in Asian populations, which uses lower cut points for BMI standards among Asians (normal weight 18.5–22.9 kg/m2, overweight 23.0–27.4 kg/m2, and obese 27.5 kg/m2) compared with the tradi-tional standards (normal weight 18.5– 24.9 kg/m2, overweight 25.0–29.9 kg/ m2, and obese30.0 kg/m2) (3). Despite continued attention to this issue, the util-ity of the WHO Asian BMI standard as a marker of diabetes risk remains unresolved