Diabetes Prevelance

Total prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes

Total: 20.8 million children and adults-7.0% of the population-have diabetes.

Diagnosed: 14.6 million people

Undiagnosed: 6.2 million people

Pre-diabetes: At least 54 million people

1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2005.

Total prevalence of diabetes

Under 20 years of age: 176,500, or 0.22% of all people in this age group have diabetes. About one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes.  2 million adolescents (or 1 in 6 overweight adolescents) aged 12-19 have pre-diabetes.  Although type 2 diabetes can occur in youth, the nationally representative data that would be needed to monitor diabetes trends in youth by type are not available. Clinically-based reports and regional studies suggest that type 2 diabetes, although still rare, is being diagnosed more frequently in children and adolescents, particularly in American Indians, African Americans, and Hispanic/Latino Americans

Age 20 years or older: 20.6 million, or 9.6% of all people in this age group have diabetes.

Age 60 years or older: 10.3 million, or 20.9% of all people in this age group have diabetes.

Men: 10.9 million, or 10.5% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes although nearly one third of them do not know it

Women: 9.7 million, or 8.8% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes although nearly one third of them do not know it. The prevalence of diabetes is at least 2 to 4 times higher among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than among non-Hispanic white women.

Total prevalence of diabetes by race/ethnicity

Non-Hispanic whites: 13.1 million, or 8.7% of all non-Hispanic whites aged 20 years or older have diabetes.

Non-Hispanic Blacks: 3.2 million, or 13.3% of all non-Hispanic blacks aged 20 years or older have diabetes. After adjusting for population age differences, non-Hispanic blacks are 1.8 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites.

Hispanic/Latino Americans: After adjusting for population age differences, Mexican Americans, the largest Hispanic/Latino subgroup, are 1.7 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. If the prevalence of diabetes among Mexican Americans was applied to the total Hispanic/Latino population, about 2.5 million (9.5%) Hispanic/Latino Americans aged 20 years or older would have diabetes. Sufficient data are not available to derive estimates of the total prevalence of diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes) for other Hispanic/Latino groups. However, residents of Puerto Rico are 1.8 times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as U.S. non-Hispanic whites.

American Indians and Alaska Natives: 99,500, or 12.8% of American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 20 years or older who received care from IHS in 2003 had diagnosed diabetes. 118,000 (15.1%) American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 20 years or older have diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes). Taking into account population age differences, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.2 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: The total prevalence of diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes) is not available for Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders. However, in Hawaii, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders aged 20 years or older are more than 2 times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as whites after adjusting for population age differences. Similarly, in California, Asians were 1.5 times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. Other groups within these populations also have increased risk for diabetes.

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