Diabetes Indicators in Haitian Adults in Miami‐Dade County

African‐Americans are on the top of the list of the population at risk of diabetes. A total of 161,000 Haitian‐Americans live in Miami‐Dade County which is 60% of the Haitians living in Florida. They form the 2 nd largest immigrant community. Research has lumped Haitians with other African populations which makes it difficult to address health care problems of Haitian. They are a distinct group with food choices & lifestyles different from other African decent populations. Dietary intakes, physical activity level, anthropometric measures and CVD knowledge of Haitian‐American adults (N=122; 29 males and 93 females) who live in Miami‐Dade County was studied. Standardized questionnaires were used. BMI (mean ±SD) of the study population was 29 ±7.2 for subjects ≤40 and, 30±6.1 for subjects >40 years of age. Thirty three percent (33%) of the males and 27.0% of the females had 31.5 ± 6.0 percent of their calories provided by fat. Coronary Heart Disease knowledge (CHDK) was considered as fair (68.5% correct answer). Physical activity level was less than (6.6±1.1) points which is considered low. Servings of fruits (1.2±0.9) and vegetables (2.5±3.1) and total fiber intake (16±8.4g/day) was lower than the recommended. High correlations were found between CV risk factors and both education (r=.888, p<0.05) and annual income (r=.843, p<0.05). Based on these findings we concluded that Haitian population may be at high risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes and CVD. Further studies with randomized population selection are needed.