ASIANS TRIM THE FAT

Lowest obesity among NY’s ethnicities

Kimchi really is a superfood! New York’s Asian population — well known for healthy eating habits — are the city’s thinnest demographic group, according to a new Health Department Survey.

Just 36 percent of Asians say they are overweight or obese, compared with 51 percent of whites, 66 percent of blacks and 68 percent of Latinos in the Big Apple.

Broken down further, KoreanAmericans have the lowest overweight/obesity rate, with just one in five saying they were too heavy.

Among Chinese folks, the rate was 30 percent, and with Filipinos it was 33. South Asians (Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali) had weight similar to whites, with half reporting being obese or overweight, the Health Department survey found.

Part of the reason that Asian New Yorkers said they were so trim may have stemmed from the fact they also reported staying away from booze.

Asians had the lowest rate of binge drinking — about one in 10 — compared with 24 percent for whites, 18 percent for Latinos and 13 percent for blacks, according to the data.

But despite their thin frames, only 65 percent of Asians said they were in good health, lowest of any group.

That was largely because only 56 percent of Chinese — by far the largest part of the Asian component — classified themselves as in top shape.

By comparison, 86 percent of whites, 80 percent of blacks and 68 percent of Latinos said they were healthy.

There are now 1.2 million New Yorkers of Asian descent in the city, a 53 percent increase since 2000, and they account for 14 percent of the city’s total population.

Nearly half are Chinese, 20 percent are Indian, 8 percent are Korean, 7 percent Filipino and 17 percent other Asian (including Japanese and Vietnamese).

About 14 percent of Asians smoke. But Asian men were five times more likely to smoke than women — 23 percent versus 4 percent.

Last year, the Health Department published its first study analyzing the health of the Big Apple’s Latino population and found that Puerto Ricans were worse off health-wise than other Hispanic residents.

“In general, Latinos of Puerto Rican heritage [whether born in Puerto Rico or not] are more likely to have more adverse outcomes,” said Dr. Mary Bassett, the health commissioner.