Diabetes Rates Skyrocket in the South, Reveals CDC Study

An overweight child reads her part in a humorous skit held during a program for overweight adolescents in Colorado. (Getty)

A new federal report issued Thursday states the national diabetic epidemic is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw alarming increases since 1995, the study showed.

Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), believes the South’s growing weight problem is the main explanation.

“The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity,” said Geiss.

Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14.

Most of the increase has happened since 1990.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar. It is the nation’s seventh leading cause of death. Complications involving diabetes include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems, as well as nerve damage.

The new study is based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes.

Mississippi, the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese, has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

The most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma’s rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent.

Several Northern states saw rising rates, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution to the growth of people suffering of diabetes is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking.

“And that’s it in a nutshell,” said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.