ATLANTA, Jan. 25 — In what the government called dramatic evidence of an unfolding epidemic, diabetes in the United States rose by about 6 percent in 1999. The main culprit: a corresponding rise in obesity.
CASES ROSE sharply across almost every demographic category, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“The main driving cause of this sharp increase in diabetes is obesity,” which was up a startling 57 percent from 1991 to 1999, CDC epidemiologist Ali Mokdar said. “From our other studies we know that obesity is still rising in this country.
“The message is out there — lose weight by increasing your physical activity and changing your diet,” he said. “But nobody is doing it.”
The share of the adult population diagnosed with diabetes jumped from about 6.5 percent in 1998 to 6.9 percent in 1999, the CDC said. The obesity rate increased to nearly one in five Americans — up from just 12 percent in 1991.
Last August, the CDC reported that diabetes jumped 33 percent nationally, to 6.5 percent, between 1990 and 1998. The rise crossed races and age groups but was sharpest — about 70 percent — among people ages 30 to 39.
UNFOLDING OF AN EPIDEMIC
CDC director Jeffrey Koplan said the effect on the nation’s health care costs will be overwhelming if the trends continue. “This dramatic new evidence signals the unfolding of an epidemic in the United States,” he said.
The statistics, released Friday by the CDC, appear in the February issue of the journal Diabetes Care. The report is based on a telephone survey of 150,000 Americans.
At least 16 million Americans have diabetes, which prevents the body from regulating blood sugar. The number is expected to rise to 22 million by 2025.
About 800,000 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every year, although one-third of those who suffer from the disease do not know they have it.
Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults and a major contributor to heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney failure and amputations. It kills 180,000 Americans each year.
Experts have blamed America’s couch-potato culture for the obesity that leads to diabetes. Computer-centered lifestyles, easy fast food and disappearing space for outdoor exercise all have been cited.
In many cases, Mokdar said, Americans who do exercise don’t do it often enough, and many cut fat from their diets without paying attention to crucial calories.
The CDC reported an especially large rise in the diabetes rate in 1999 among blacks - more than 10 percent in just one year. Whites, Hispanics and other racial groups also had higher rates in 1999.
The diabetes rate fell among only one age group from 1998 to 1999 - people in their 30s. But that age group saw a huge rise from 1990 to 1998, up about 70 percent.
EXPERTS WEIGH IN
“If these dangerous trends continue at the current rates, the impact on our nation’s health and medical care costs in future years will be overwhelming,” Koplan cautioned.
“Maintaining healthy behavior such as controlling weight through nutrition and physical activity can help ease the burden of diabetes and may actually prevent its onset,” said Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the CDC’s diabetes program.
Dr. Robert Sherwin, president of the American Diabetes Association, said he expects the problem to get worse over the next several years.
“The American way of life tends to favor inactivity,” he said. “We’re going to need a major education program in the schools to reverse this.”
CASES ROSE sharply across almost every demographic category, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“The main driving cause of this sharp increase in diabetes is obesity,” which was up a startling 57 percent from 1991 to 1999, CDC epidemiologist Ali Mokdar said. “From our other studies we know that obesity is still rising in this country.
“The message is out there — lose weight by increasing your physical activity and changing your diet,” he said. “But nobody is doing it.”
The share of the adult population diagnosed with diabetes jumped from about 6.5 percent in 1998 to 6.9 percent in 1999, the CDC said. The obesity rate increased to nearly one in five Americans — up from just 12 percent in 1991.
Last August, the CDC reported that diabetes jumped 33 percent nationally, to 6.5 percent, between 1990 and 1998. The rise crossed races and age groups but was sharpest — about 70 percent — among people ages 30 to 39.
UNFOLDING OF AN EPIDEMIC
CDC director Jeffrey Koplan said the effect on the nation’s health care costs will be overwhelming if the trends continue. “This dramatic new evidence signals the unfolding of an epidemic in the United States,” he said.
The statistics, released Friday by the CDC, appear in the February issue of the journal Diabetes Care. The report is based on a telephone survey of 150,000 Americans.
At least 16 million Americans have diabetes, which prevents the body from regulating blood sugar. The number is expected to rise to 22 million by 2025.
About 800,000 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every year, although one-third of those who suffer from the disease do not know they have it.
Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness in adults and a major contributor to heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney failure and amputations. It kills 180,000 Americans each year.
Experts have blamed America’s couch-potato culture for the obesity that leads to diabetes. Computer-centered lifestyles, easy fast food and disappearing space for outdoor exercise all have been cited.
In many cases, Mokdar said, Americans who do exercise don’t do it often enough, and many cut fat from their diets without paying attention to crucial calories.
The CDC reported an especially large rise in the diabetes rate in 1999 among blacks - more than 10 percent in just one year. Whites, Hispanics and other racial groups also had higher rates in 1999.
The diabetes rate fell among only one age group from 1998 to 1999 - people in their 30s. But that age group saw a huge rise from 1990 to 1998, up about 70 percent.
EXPERTS WEIGH IN
“If these dangerous trends continue at the current rates, the impact on our nation’s health and medical care costs in future years will be overwhelming,” Koplan cautioned.
“Maintaining healthy behavior such as controlling weight through nutrition and physical activity can help ease the burden of diabetes and may actually prevent its onset,” said Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the CDC’s diabetes program.
Dr. Robert Sherwin, president of the American Diabetes Association, said he expects the problem to get worse over the next several years.
“The American way of life tends to favor inactivity,” he said. “We’re going to need a major education program in the schools to reverse this.”
