Here’s how much diabetes has increased in Tennessee in a decade

2021-07-11

About one in 10 Americans, or 34.2 million people, lives with diabetes, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through 2018. And one in three people in the country – or 88 million adults – has prediabetes which is above normal. blood sugar levels which can turn into diabetes if left untreated. There are three types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes, making up about 5-10% of diabetes cases, produce very little or no insulin, a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels in the body. People with type 2 diabetes, who make up the majority of cases, can produce insulin but do not use it well. The third type, gestational diabetes, develops in pregnant women and usually goes away after childbirth. New cases of type 2 diabetes have skyrocketed among young people, and overall rates of chronic disease have increased in all states in recent years. Tennessee is the state with the 12th lowest increase in diagnosed diabetes in people over the age of 20 between 2008 and 2017. In 2008, 10.9% of adults had diabetes, the 6th highest prevalence rate of all states. In 2017, the share of adults aged 20 and over with diabetes rose to 12.5%, the 8th highest rate. Several factors can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Those that cannot be controlled are age and family history. Those that can be controlled include a sedentary lifestyle and healthy eating. Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Trends in obesity and severe obesity have generally increased over the past decade. In Tennessee, in particular, the adult obesity rate in 2008 was 31.2%, the 5th highest rate of any state. Almost a decade later, in 2017, 33.3% of adults in Tennessee were obese, the fourth highest rate. To determine which states had the largest increase in the number of people with diabetes in a decade, 24/7 Wall St. looked at diabetes data from 2011 and 2021 from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, a joint program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The data published in the 2011 and 2021 reports relate to the years 2008 and 2017, respectively. This is how much diabetes has increased in each state in a decade.