HHS HealthBeat (August 10, 2007)

More weight, more diabetes

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

As Americans gain weight, their risk of diabetes goes up. You literally can see it across the country, in people and in statistics tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC researcher Linda Geiss talked about it at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association.

Geiss found the number of people with diabetes has been going up about 5 percent a year -- tracking all too neatly with weight gains. She says it’s worrisome:

"Diabetes over the last 15 years has sharply grown, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. What we need to do is to increase our prevention efforts." (10 seconds)

That includes getting weight under control – diet and exercise. And Geiss says people at risk for diabetes can look for programs which can help them head off the disease.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011