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Background: The New Zealand (NZ) Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols recommend that people of South Asian (SAsian) ethnicity, other than Indian, are combined with people of Japanese and Korean ethnicity at the most commonly used level of aggregation in health research (level two). This may not work well for perinatal studies, as it has long been observed that women of Indian ethnicity have higher rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as perinatal death. It is possible that women of other SAsian ethnicities share this risk. Aims: This study was performed to identify appropriate groupings of women of SAsian ethnicity for perinatal research. Materials and Methods: National maternity and neonatal data, and singleton birth records between 2008 and 2017 were linked using the Statistics NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure. Socio‐demographic risk profiles and pregnancy outcomes were compared between 15 ethnic groups. Recommendations were made based on statistical analyses and cultural evaluation with members of the SAsian research community. Results: Similarities were observed between women of Indian, Fijian Indian, South African Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnicities. A lower‐risk profile was seen among Japanese and Korean mothers. Risk profiles of women of combined Indian‐Māori, Indian‐Pacific and Indian‐New Zealand European ethnicity more closely represented their corresponding non‐Indian ethnicities. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest a review of current NZ Ministry of Health ethnicity data protocols. We recommend that researchers understand the risk profiles of participants prior to aggregation of groups in research, to mitigate risks associated with masking differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the bone health and associated risk factors of a group of South Asian women living in New Zealand. Studies on the Indian subcontinent suggest a high incidence of low bone mineral density in women with poor vitamin D status and low dietary calcium intake. Methods: Subjects were women of South Asian origin (n = 91) living in Auckland, New Zealand. Subjects were stratified by menopausal status. They completed a 4-day food diary, and provided a fasting blood sample. Bone mineral density was measured in the lumbar spine and proximal femur using dual X-ray densitometry. Results: Mean age of premenopausal (n = 71) and postmenopausal (n = 20) women was 39.8 ± 7.8 and 55.3 ± 5.4 years, respectively. Osteoporosis ( T-score ≤−2.5) was present in 32% of postmenopausal and 3% of premenopausal subjects, but only in the lumbar spine. Adequate 25(OH)D levels (>50 nmol/L) were found in only 22% of premenopausal, and 26% of postmenopausal women. A body mass index in the overweight or obese category was found in 61% of premenopausal and 75% of postmenopausal women. Conclusion: The high incidence of osteoporosis in the postmenopausal group could be associated with the early age of oophorectomy or menopause together with low vitamin D status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]