26 Million Americans Have Diabetes

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which surveyed 623,538 national adults, aged 18 and older, during an 18-month period in 2008 to 2009, finds the reported incidence of diabetes on the rise in the United States, climbing to 11.3% of American adults -- or about 26 million Americans -- in the third quarter of 2009, up from 10.4% in the first quarter of 2008. If current trends continue, 15% of American adults -- or more than 37 million Americans -- will be living with diabetes by the end of 2015. Coincidentally, the U.S. obesity rate, which has a well-established relationship with diabetes incidence, is up about one percentage point in quarter-over-quarter comparisons with 2008 results.  Americans who are obese are nearly three times as likely as those who are not obese to report having been diagnosed with diabetes.  Urging that: “One of the best ways to reduce obesity is through exercise, and a correlation between exercise and diabetes incidence is indeed found in the Gallup-Healthways data,” the Index authors point out that “Even among obese adults, therefore, the likelihood of having been diagnosed with diabetes is lower among those who report engaging in at least some exercise each week, consisting minimally of one to three 30-minute workouts.”