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 Obesity
and Diabetes Continue to Threaten Health of Americans
Auburn,
Sept. 20---Epidemics of obesity and diabetes continue to
threaten the health of Americans. Both obesity and diabetes are
preventable and yet more than 50 percent of Americans are overweight
or obese and more than 15 million Americans over age 18 had
diagnosed diabetes in 2000.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reports that the decade of the 90s witnessed
dramatic increases in diabetes and obesity in the United States, and
at the same time, Americans showed little improvement in eating
habits or in increasing their physical activity.
In a study recently
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA),
the CDC found a 61 percent increase in the percentage of obese
Americans from 1991 to 2000 and a 49 percent increase in the
percentage of Americans with diabetes.
Especially alarming are
the one-year increases CDC observed for both obesity and diabetes,
says Dr. Barbara Struempler, a nutritionist with the Alabama
Cooperative Extension System. From 1999 to 2000, diabetes increased
from 6.9 percent to 7.3 percent and obesity jumped from 18.9 percent
to 19.8 percent. Furthermore, 27.3 percent of Americans did not
engage in any physical activity during the 90s, and only about 25
percent of Americans consumed the recommended five or more servings
of fruits and vegetables a day.
"If we continue on
this course for the next decade, the public health implications in
terms of both disease and health care costs are staggering,"
says CDC director Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan.
About 9.4 percent of the
national health care expenditures in the United States are directly
related to obesity and physical inactivity. In 1997, health care
costs associated with diabetes were $98 billion.
Increases in both
diabetes and obesity were observed in all demographic and geographic
segments of the population. Mississippi had the highest rates of
both obesity (24.3 percent) and diagnosed diabetes (8.8 percent).
Alaska had the lowest rate of diabetes (4.4 percent) and Colorado
had the lowest rate of obesity (13.8 percent).
"More than 20
percent of Alabamians are obese and the state's diabetes rate is
above 6 percent," Struempler says.
Blacks had the highest
rates of both obesity (29.3 percent) and diabetes (11.1 percent)
among all races and ethnic groups. Also, people with less than a
high school education had higher rates in both obesity and diabetes
than high school graduates. However, Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of
CDC's diabetes program, says the recent national increases have more
to do with lifestyle than with genetic makeup.
"We are encouraged
by new studies showing healthy eating and regular physical activity
can actually prevent or delay the onset of Type II diabetes even in
people at high risk. Promoting healthy lifestyles should be a
national priority, beginning in our schools and carrying over into
our workplaces, communities and especially into our health care
system," Vinicor says.
Almost 800,000 new cases
of diabetes are diagnosed annually, and most people with diabetes
(90 to 95 percent) have Type II. Age, physical inactivity, obesity
and family history are the main risk factors for Type II diabetes.
Type I diabetes, previously called juvenile-onset, accounts for
about 5 to 10 percent of diabetes cases and is not associated with
lifestyle.
The prevalence of
obesity and diabetes has increased despite previous calls for
action. This trend is likely to continue in the future unless
effective interventions are implemented. In the past 25 years,
several promising approaches have been identified as targets for
clinical and public health action. To control these dual epidemics,
now is the time to implement multicomponent interventions for weight
control, healthy eating and physical activity.
Source: Dr. Barbara
Struempler, Nutritionist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System,
(334) 844-2217
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