Diabetics Show Alarming Increase in Morbid Obesity

A Loyola University Health System study has found that one out of five people with type 2 is morbidly obese. Researchers reported that 62.4% of U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes are obese, and 20.7% are morbidly obese. Among African American adults with type 2 diabetes, 1 in 3 is morbidly obese.

"The rate of morbid obesity among people with diabetes is increasing at a very alarming rate, and this has substantial public health implications," says Holly Kramer, MD, a kidney specialist and lead author of the study published online in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.

Kramer and colleagues examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys completed during the years 1976 to 2006. Between the survey periods 1976-1980 and 2005-2006, there was a 141% increase in the rate of morbid obesity among adults with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.

Approximately two thirds of adults with type 2 diabetes are obese and about one third of adults without diabetes are obese. Between 1976 and 2006, the average BMI of type 2 diabetics increased 17% to 34.2. The average BMI of adults without type 2 diabetes increased 11.5% to 28.1.

The average age of adults with type 2 diabetes increased from 56.7 years in 1976-1980 to 59.9 years in 2005-2006. The percentage of type 2 diabetics who were men increased from 42.9% to 46.3%.

Among the reasons for the increase in obesity among diabetics and the overall population are inexpensive food, larger portion sizes and consumption of sugary soda, Kramer says. Stomach-stapling gastric bypass surgery can be a last resort for morbidly obese diabetics who have been unable to control their weight through diet and other lifestyle changes. In many patients, weight-loss surgery can eliminate the need for diabetes-related medications.

Source: Loyola University Health System