Sewa International’s “Yoga For Sewa” Poster Awarded First Prize in People’s Choice Category at The AAPI Health Summit
HOUSTON: Sewa International Houston was one of the partnering organizations for City of Houston, Health and Human services Department, when they decided to hold the first AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander ) Health summit in Houston. The AAPI group is the fastest growing racial /ethnic group in Unites States. The percentage of Asian immigrants rose from 19% to 36% in 2010 ,surpassing Hispanics at 31%. Asian immigrants come to America from 54 countries and their territories of which Asian Indians are very prominent. There has been an even greater growth of AAPI populations in some areas of US in the last 2 decades. The state of Texas has the 3 rd largest population of AAPI’s after New York and California. Somes census reports suggest that the Houston area has up to 37 % of all AAPI’s in Texas area. The Kinder Institute has reported that among Asians in the Houston Area, a greater population of Indian /Pakistani Americans report the highest income, with 36% living in the households making $75,000 or more per year .
While little is know about the health issues of AAPI groups in the country as compared to the other ethnic and racial groups, even less is known about the needs of the AAPI living in these communities. The conference reiterated the need of identifying Health conditions and Health needs of AAPI because of their rapid growth and increasing numbers and diversity . Although many are educated and economically well off, many others especially in the service and small business sectors are isolated, disconnected and hard to reach due to cultural and Language barriers.
Overall the health status of AAPI’s is comparable to whites. The Houston data shows that a higher portion of Asian Indians reported excellent or very good status in health among Asians.( This data is all self reported ). Another interesting data that was shared was that most Indians, up to 46.1% do not meet the physical activity recommendations as compared to other Asian groups. So the lifestyle of most Indians is rather sedentary.
Overall mental health of Asians is good for those who were affluent, educated and had insurance, while there is a higher incidence of mental issues when the population was less affluent. There is a high need of additional mental health services to meet the unique cultural and linguistic needs of the rapidly growing AAPI populations, especially for Asian American Females.