Diabetes: US Rate of Diabetes Doubled in Past 10 Years; High Incidence in South

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest the rising rate of obesity is behind the 2 fold increase of type 1 and/or type 2 diabetes. A breakdown of the incidence rate by 33 individual states is available in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weeky Report (MMWR), published just last week.

"The figures came from a telephone survey of more than 260,000 adults across the country who were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with diabetes and where that diagnosis took place. In 1995-97 the survey included 33 states although in 2005-07 it included 40 states. However, the study only shows comparisons for the 33 states.

The age-adjusted figures for 33 states show that the incidence of diabetes was 90 per cent higher in 2005-07 than in 1995-97, confirming fears that diabetes will continue to be a major public health problem in the US, said the CDC. "(Medical News Today)

Although ageing, a sedentary lifestyle, physical inactivity and minority status/ethnicity are all contributing risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, the CDC report indicates that the rise of obesity matches the increase in diabetes. People in Southern states have a higher incidence rate of type 2 diabetes risk factors. 90 to 95 percent of US diabetic patients have type 2 diabetes.

Limitations of the MMWR report are the lack of consideration of improved rates of diabetes detection/diagnosis and limited data collected from certain states. 

"State-Specific Incidence of Diabetes Among Adults --- Participating States, 1995--1997 and 2005--2007."
KA Kirtland, YF Li, LS Geiss, TJ Thompson.
Div of Diabetes Translation, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC.
MMWR, October 31, 2008 / 57(43);1169-1173.

Click here for the full MMWR report.