Asian Families: Perspectives of Health

The terms Asian and Asian American refer to people having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, for example, people from China, India, Japan, Cambodia, Korea, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asians represent a large—and the fastest-growing—ethnic group of the U.S. population. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Asians constitute approximately 11.9 million or 4.2% of the U.S. population, an increase of 72% or 5 million people from 1990 to 2000. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050 the Asian population will grow to approximately 37.6 million and account for 9.3% of the nation's population. It is important to understand the perspectives and values of the Asian culture and how the cultural values intersect with health ...