The prevalence is somewhat greater among blacks and Hispanics. In Rhode Island, telephone surveys have found that some 40,000 people know they have diabetes. The state Department of Health estimates that 13,000 have it but don't know it. In 1999, 5.2 percent of Rhode Islanders had diabetes, up from 4.46 percent in 1996. The upward slant of the diabetes numbers parallels a similar growth in obesity, and the two are clearly linked.
Childhood obesity appears to be the main reason for the increase in diabetes among youngsters.
It's not clear by what mechanism obesity causes diabetes, but most experts agree that the roots of the diabetes epidemic lie in high-calorie diets and physical inactivity. In others words, the scourge of diabetes results from the way we live. We have so much excess. We haven't learned to moderate. It used to be, you didn't develop diabetes until you were over 45.