So What?

1) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the United States Department of Heath and Human Services, has a
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which makes monthly, state-based, telephone surveys of the adult
population.

2) Diagnosed diabetes was defined as having responsed 'yes' to the question, 'Has a doctor ever told you that you have diabetes?" Women who indicated that they only had diabetes during pregnancy were not considered to have diabetes for the purpose of this report.

3) This video shows a general trend of an increasing percentage of the population reporting being diagnosed with diabetes from 2004 to 2008.

4) In 2004, just a few counties across the U.S. had more than 13 percent of the population reporting having been diagnosed with diabetes. There were a few in each of Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina, with one or two in Montana and South Dakota.

6) By 2008, in the southeastern U.S. dozens of counties reported more than 13% of the population diagnosed with diabetes. In addition, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky had a significant percent of their counties reporting 13% or more of the population with diabetes.

7) See also Obesity in America.