It is well known that many people in the U.S. are affected by or at-risk for diabetes, but the actual percentage revealed in a new study is eye-opening: According to the research published in JAMA, roughly half of all Americans have either diabetes or prediabetes.
Researchers examined cross-sectional surveys conducted between 1988 and1994 and between 1999 and 2012 that gathered information on nationally representative samples of the U.S. population.
The study shows that from 2011 to 2012, between 12 percent and 14 percent of Americans had diabetes and roughly 31 percent had prediabetes, down from 40.3 percent between 1988 and 1994. Diabetes prevalence was higher among non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic participants.
In an article published by JAMA that accompanied the study, William Herman, MD, and Amy Rothberg, MD, PhD of the University of Michigan wrote "Although obesity and Type 2 diabetes remain major clinical and public health problems in the United States, the current data provide a glimmer of hope."
That glimmer of hope is that the prevalence of diabetes has finally begun to plateau. Dr. Herman and Dr. Rothberg attribute some of this success to the implementation of food, nutrition, agricultural and physical activity policies by federal, state and local governments.