Diabetes currently affects approximately 21 million Americans, an increase of 2.6 million since 2002, and continues to be more common among women of color than among white women.(1) In addition, there is a strong correlation between obesity and diabetes in women. Studies have shown that the onset of diabetes in pre-diabetic patients can be successfully prevented by losing 5% to 7% of current body weight.(2) Diabetes is a more common cause of heart disease among women than among men; women with type 2 diabetes are 27% more likely than men to develop cardiovascular problems.(3)
How many women are diagnosed with diabetes?
The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing the overall rate of clinically diagnosed diabetes to no more than 25 overall cases per 1,000 people (when applied to women) [Healthy People 2010 Objective 5-3].
Data Source: Diabetes (%), 2005
EXPLANATION: This measure includes women age 18 and older in the non-institutionalized civilian population who reported ever being told by a doctor that they have diabetes. In the Report Card, the Healthy People 2010 goal was converted to a percentage (e.g., 25 per 1,000 was converted to 2.5 percent) to grade this indicator.
SOURCE:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data (BRFSS), 2005, available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp. The national number is the median of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data for race/ethnicity and age are three-year averages from 2003-2005 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population. Note that data for race/ethnicity reported in the Asian/Pacific Islander column reflect only Asian data for 49 states and the District of Columbia and reflect only Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander data for Hawaii. The 2004 data from Hawaii are not available as part of the 2004 BRFSS aggregate dataset. For Hawaii, data for race/ethnicity and age are reported as two-year averages from 2003 and 2005. National Center for Health Statistics, Health Data for All Ages: Health Care Access and Use, Health Status and Disability, and Health Conditions and Risk Factors Tables, available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_data_for_all_ages.htm.