Why are BMI differences so varied from one culture to the next in places like North America?

[jennifer_bloom]

My Asian friends usually weigh 100 pounds while my friends from other cultures average 220. My male cousin is skinny like a duck and he drinks beer and eats junk food and is currently jobless as far as I know.

[Logos25]

African Americans, particularly women, have the lowest exercise rates of any demographic group. Essentially, most black women past puberty do not exercise much at all. This is due to a variety of factors. Because black women are often single mothers, they are tasked with working for a living while caring for their children and aging parents by themselves. They have very little time left over to maintain their own bodies. In addition to this, being overweight has become fetishized in the black community. Being "big" has come to be considered attractive. I'm not saying this is wrong in itself, but obviously being overweight comes with tremendous health risks and we see this in the extremely high rates of diabetes and heart disease among black women as opposed to the general population. Many of these things also apply to the Latino community.