Last Updated on December 11, 2024
Exciting news has been released about the prevalence of diabetes in the United States. A recent analysis of data has shown that new cases of diabetes are on the decline. After seeing drastic increases over the past three decades, the number has not only plateaued but is finally decreasing. From 2009 to 2014 the number of newly diagnosed diabetes has decreased.
The decrease of new cases was mostly in men with at least a high school education. Women and minority groups still saw decreases, but not nearly as significant. African Americans and Hispanics are still seeing an alarming number of new cases. Nearly 12% of African-American women over the age of 20 have diabetes, and almost 9% of African-American men have the disease.
Data taken from 1980 to 2014 showed that the number of diagnosed diabetes tripled from 493,000 to over 1.4 million, but we are no longer having as many new cases as we were. Experts aren’t sure on the reason that diabetes is declining, but there are several ideas contributed to it.
The first idea is that there were such a high number of new diabetes cases, that eventually it was going to slow down. Some experts say that the decline has nothing to do with anything we are doing; it’s just a “natural” occurrence.
Another idea is that organizations have started spreading awareness about the symptoms and triggers of diabetes. Organizations like the American Diabetes Association, the International Diabetes Federation, and the Juveniles Diabetes Research Foundation have spent the last several years educating the public on ways to prevent diabetes.
Prevention programs could be one of the leading causes of the decline in new diabetes diagnosis. Over the past 10 or more years, diabetes prevention programs have sprung up across the United States. These programs teach healthy eating and encourage active lifestyles. YMCAs across the U.S. have started their diabetes prevention program to help those that are at a high risk for diabetes. The YMCA’s program has two main goals, losing 7% of their bodyweight and increase activity time to 150 minutes a week.
The decrease in diabetes could correlate with the decrease of soda and junk food that Americans are eating and drinking. In the same time span of 2009 to 2014, American families were buying less soft drinks.
While this new data is exciting, the United States still has a long way to go in reducing diabetes. A study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health revealed that while Americans’ overall dietary health is improving, but is still poor. The study used over 29,000 people ranging in age from 20 – 85 and took data from the U.S. 1999 – 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. The data showed that Americans are eating fewer trans fat and choosing more vegetables. Similar to the diabetes study, the Harvard results showed an uneven balance in diet between middle and low-income families.
There are around 22 million Americans living with diabetes, which costs the U.S. around $348 billion dollars of direct and indirect expenses. Reducing the number of new diabetes diagnosis would reduce the rising costs of diabetes care.
Only time will tell if the downward trend will continue, but as prevention programs continue to grow and awareness spreads, we could see the decrease continue. There are programs that are specifically trying to reduce the number of minority groups that are affected by diabetes. For example, programs like “Live Empowered” designated for African-Americans or “Feria de Salud” for Hispanics. As these programs create a larger impact, we can expect to see the number of diabetics decease in minority groups as well.
