The occurrence of new cases of type 2 diabetes has doubled over the past three decades, according to a report in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.
“Most, but not all, of the increase in diabetes occurred in people who were obese — those with a body mass index of 30 or more.” lead author Dr. Caroline S. Fox, from the National Lung, Heart, and Blood Institute in Framingham, Mass., said in a statement.
The findings are based on a study of 3,104 subjects, with an average age of 47 years, who were free from diabetes when they enrolled in the Framingham Offspring Study in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s. After an initial examination, the subjects were followed to document the occurrence of diabetes over 8-year periods.
In the 1970s, the incidence of diabetes was the lowest, at 2.0 percent among women and 2.7 percent among men. By the 1990s, the corresponding rates had climbed to their highest points: 3.7 percent and 5.8 percent.
Compared with the 1970s, the risk of developing diabetes in the 1980s and 1990s increased by 40 percent and 105 percent, respectively.
As noted, obese individuals accounted for the bulk of the increase in the incidence of diabetes, the report indicates.
However, the researchers found that weight did not account for all of the increase in the odds of developing diabetes. They suggest that “changes in dietary and physical activity patterns that are independent of changes in body weight may also contribute to the present findings.”
The team points out, for example, that another study showed that “consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is an independent risk factor for diabetes, even after adjustment for weight gain.”
