WASHINGTON, D.C. — Obese adults between the ages of 25 and 64 are at least four times more likely to have been diagnosed with diabetes than those who are normal weight, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. By their mid-to-late 30s, 9.3% of adults who are obese have been diagnosed with diabetes, compared with 1.8% among those who are normal weight.
These results are based on nearly 500,000 interviews conducted in the U.S. from 2014 through 2016 as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
Unlike some government estimates of obesity, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index uses respondents’ self-reported height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI) and subsequent weight classes. It does not involve clinical measurements that typically result in higher obesity estimates. A BMI of 30 or higher results in an obese classification. Additionally, the Well-Being Index does not discern between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, but rather asks: “Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have diabetes?”
In 2016, 28.4% of all U.S. adults were classified as obese, and 11.6% reported having been diagnosed with […]
Unfortunately, genetic sources of diabetes have plagued my wife’s family for generations even though the are all slim and eat well. Some people just cannot help but get diabetes and have to deal with it by taking insulin and the pharmaceutical industry preys on those people with high prices for insulin so they can make huge profits. That is one more reason we need single payer health coverage.