November is American Diabetes Month
New cases of diabetes linked to rising obesity rates

Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, blindness and amputations, and a major cause of heart disease and stroke. Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes, and about 6 million of them are unaware of their disease. With obesity on the rise, millions more are at risk of developing diabetes.

Managing Diabetes-It's not easy but it's worth it

Every 24 hours more than 4,000 adults are diagnosed with diabetes and approximately 200 people die from diabetes. Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke and a leading cause of leg and foot amputations unrelated to injury, kidney failure, and new cases of blindness in adults. However, people with diabetes can lower their risk of complications by following important steps [1] to control the disease: 

• Talk to your healthcare provider about how to manage your blood glucose (A1C), blood pressure, and cholesterol.
• Get both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines as soon as they are available. For those with diabetes, it is important to ask for the "shot" version of both vaccines. In addition, talk to your health care provider about a pneumonia (pneumococcal) shot. People with diabetes are more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza than people who do not have diabetes.
• Stay at a healthy weight and engage in moderate physical activity for 2 hours and 30 minutes each week or vigorous physical activity for 1 hour and 15 minutes each week. Be sure to add muscle strengthening activities on 2 or more days each week. Physical activity can help you control your weight, blood glucose, and blood pressure, as well as raise your "good" cholesterol and lower your "bad" cholesterol.

Obesity is a major risk factor

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States, and this is a major factor – but not the only factor -- in the increasing rate of newly diagnosed cases of diabetes. Population increases in diabetes have coincided with increases in obesity, and the type 2 diabetes epidemic is believed to be largely a result of the increase in obesity levels. Diagnosed diabetes has increased, particularly in overweight and obese individuals, and improvements in diabetes awareness and enhanced detection are occurring among the most obese (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2).

Ways You Can Help Prevent Diabetes

Prediabetes is a condition in which individuals have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. In 2007, at least 57 million American adults were estimated to have prediabetes. People with prediabetes have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. However, progression to diabetes among those with prediabetes is not inevitable. Recent studies have shown that people at high risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight. You can do that by eating healthier and getting moderate physical activity for 150 minutes each week or vigorous physical activity for 75 minutes each week. The development and delivery of lifestyle interventions to people at risk for diabetes are needed to stop the rise in new cases of diabetes.

Diabetes Education and Resources

Established in 1997, the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is a federally-funded program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NDEP includes more than 200 partners at the federal, state and local levels, working together to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, promote early diagnosis, and prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. NDEP develops and disseminates educational information on the prevention and control of diabetes and offers a wide range of resources around two major public education campaigns:

• Control Your Diabetes. For Life. (en español)
• Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent Type 2 Diabetes. (en español)

1 Source: National Diabetes Education Program. 4 Steps to Control Your Diabetes. For Life.

More Information

• Differences in Prevalence of Obesity Among Black, White, and Hispanic Adults—United States, 2006–2008
• 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet ( 357KB, 14 pages)
• Diabetes (also available in Spanish)
• Prevent Diabetes
• Obesity prevalence among low income, preschool-aged children
• Recommended community strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in the United States
• Pregnancy and Diabetes
• Frequently Asked Questions: Staying Healthy with Diabetes.
• BMI calculator
• Lean Works
• Healthy Weight
• National Diabetes Education Program
• American Diabetes Month
• World Diabetes Day
• "We Can Be Stronger than Diabetes" podcasts
  The National Diabetes Education Program developed a podcast series on diabetes. This series, titled "We Can Be Stronger than Diabetes," offers short audio files that you can listen to on your computer or download to a mobile device like an iPod or other portable player. Listen to this series and other podcasts on diabetes.

References

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2007. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008.
• Geiss LS, Pan L, Cadwell B, Gregg EW, Benjamin SM, Engelgau MM. Changes in incidence of diabetes in U.S. adults, 1997–2003. Am J Prev Med. 2006 May;30(5):371–377.
• Gregg EW, Cadwell BL, Cheng YJ, Cowie CC, Williams DE, Geiss L, Engelgau MM, Vinicor F. Trends in the prevalence and ratio of diagnosed to undiagnosed diabetes according to obesity levels in the U.S. Diabetes Care. 2004 Dec;27(12):2806–2812