Diabetes Diagnoses Increase Sharply in 1990s

Diabetes increased at an alarming rate in the United States during the past decade--rising 70% among people in their 30s--and health experts are blaming the wired-up, couch-potato culture of the 1990s.

Diabetes is closely tied to obesity, and doctors say the higher incidence of the disease is due in large part to America’s weight problem.

Obesity is “not just a cosmetic issue anymore,” said Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the diabetes division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The share of the population with diabetes jumped 33% nationally, to 6.5%, from 1990 to 1998, the government said Wednesday. The rise crossed races and age groups but was sharpest among people 30 to 39.

The study, published in the September issue of the journal Diabetes Care, was based on annual telephone surveys in which people were asked whether they have diabetes.

A one-third jump in the incidence of any disease in just eight years is almost unheard of, Vinicor said.

“If that would happen in a disease like tuberculosis, syphilis or AIDS, I think there would be a public outcry, and understandably,” he said. “These trends are very disturbing.”

The nation’s weight problem is well-documented. The number of Americans considered obese soared from about one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five in 1998.

Experts blame several factors--hundreds of TV channels, stressful jobs that lead us to gulp down fatty fast food, the rise of computers at home and at work, even a construction boom that has gobbled up space for outdoor exercise.

About 3.7% of people 30 to 39 had diabetes in 1998, compared with 2.1% in 1990, the study showed.

About 16 million Americans have the disease, and the number is expected to rise to 22 million by 2025. Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and limb amputations and dramatically raises the risk of heart attacks. It kills 180,000 Americans each year.