Is Hawaii’s population at greater risk of osteoporosis?
Singer: In my own study of hip fracture in Hawaii, we found that the ethnic group at highest risk is Caucasians. Their risk was higher than all other groups we looked at, including Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, blacks and Hawaiians. We know that bone density is associated with body mass: People who are smaller and especially thinner will tend to have lower bone density. So it is possible that people who are on the smaller side are at increased risk for osteoporosis. But looking at risk factors is not the same thing as looking at the actual fracture rate. In fact, you can look at people who live in different countries and who may have the same bone density and are of the same ethnicity, but they may have a different risk for fracture. For example, among Chinese people living in China and Chinese people living in Hong Kong, the risk for fracture is significantly higher in Hong Kong, and it actually has increased as Hong Kong has become more industrialized. So it seems industrialization p
