State-by-State, Community-by-Community
According to the latest research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 25 million adults have been told by a doctor that they have adult diabetes. What’s even more concerning is how this number is poised to skyrocket. Another CDC study predicts that, based on our current trajectory, the number of Americans with adult diabetes will grow to one in three adults by 2050.
Diabetes is a public health emergency requiring immediate attention and creative solutions. It is the leading cause of new cases of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations of feet and legs in American adults; every person with adult diabetes has about twice the risk of dying on any given day as a person of similar age without diabetes.
As the director of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the CDC, these statistics fuel my passion to educate people on how to implement changes to prevent diabetes or to better manage the condition in those who have diabetes. To accomplish this, we help groups take data like that found in the CDC Diabetes Interactive Atlas – which provides county level data on diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity – and use it to reduce diabetes-related suffering at both the national, state and local levels.
An example of this work in action is the National Diabetes Prevention Program. This program is designed to bring evidence-based lifestyle change programs for preventing type 2 diabetes to communities across the country. During the 12-month program, participants receive help and support to make and sustain lifestyle changes.
Lifestyle coaches work with participants to identify emotions and situations that can sabotage their success, and the group process encourages participants to share strategies for dealing with challenging situations. Participants aim to lose 5 percent to 7 percent of their body weight by reducing fat and calories and by being physically active for 150 minutes a week. For the estimated 79 million U.S. adults who have pre-diabetes, these kinds of changes can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by close to 60 percent.
To learn more about the actions you can take to help yourself, your family and your community make changes like these, visit CDC’s Diabetes Public Health Resource page, which offers information on everything from pre-diabetes to healthy food choices during the holidays to how do stay healthy once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes. You can visit the national registry of recognized diabetes prevention programs through the National Diabetes Prevention Program to find a program in your community.
We hope you’ll take the steps today to join us in our work toward a world free from this devastating disease.