Increased Rate of Diabetes Blamed on Obesity

The rate of new diabetes cases nearly doubled in the United States during the last 10 years, climbing from about 5 per 1,000 in the mid-1990's to 9 per 1,000 in the middle of this decade.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) conducted a telephone call-in random-digit-dialed survey of more than 260,000 adults. Participants were asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes, and when the diagnosis was made (the report asked about diagnosed diabetes only). The comparisons between 1995-97 and 2005-07 covered only the 33 U.S. states for which the CDC had complete data for both periods.
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The results of the study showed that the worst rate of diabetes was in West Virginia, where about 13 in 1,000 adults were diagnosed with diabetes in 2005-07; Puerto Rico was about as high as West Virginia. South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee followed, all at 11 cases per 1,000 or higher. Hawaii and Wyoming were among the states with the lowest rates, with Minnesota at the bottom of the list, with a rate of only 5 in 1,000. The researchers said that it was not entirely clear why some states were worse than others. On one hand, older people, blacks, and Hispanics tend to have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, and the South has large concentrations of all three groups; however, West Virginia is overwhelmingly white. The study was published in the October 3, 2008, issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

"This dramatic increase in the number of people with diabetes highlights the increasing burden of diabetes across the country,” said lead author Karen Kirtland, Ph.D., a data analyst with the CDC′s division of diabetes translation. "This study demonstrates that we must continue to promote effective diabetes prevention efforts that include lifestyle interventions for people at risk for diabetes. Changes such as weight loss combined with moderate physical activity are important steps that individuals can take to reduce their risk for developing diabetes.”

However, since an estimated one in four diabetics have not been diagnosed, the findings probably underestimate the problem; this underestimation may be particularly bad in the rural South and other areas where patients have trouble getting appropriate health care.

Related Links:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention