Diabetes is skyrocketing in the United States. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the rate of new cases of diabetes has nearly doubled over the past 10 years. The main reasons? The growing number of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

More than 23 million Americans have the disease. And the numbers keep soaring – the CDC says about 1.6 million new cases were diagnosed in people 20 or older last year. About 90-percent of the cases are type 2 diabetes – the form of the disease closely linked to obesity.

States with the highest rates of new cases were mainly in the South: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Minnesota had the lowest rate.

The CDC says losing modest amounts of weight and getting more exercise can help prevent diabetes but many people just aren’t doing that.

You can see the full report here.

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You know I talk a lot about the obesity epidemic in this country here at FFTV, but this is something that even shocked me. New research finds if things don’t change, most American adults – 86 percent – will be overweight or obese by the year 2030. 86 percent!

And the cost of this crisis? The study – which is in the online issue of Obesity - projects health care spending related to overweight and obesity to reach as much as $956.9 billion as health problems soar. Both the overweight and obese are more at risk for having several health conditions, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Another scary effect of all this – researchers say children and young adults may have a shorter life expectancy than their parents if the obesity epidemic is left unaddressed.

Even as we keep getting more sombering news about obesity in the U.S., I still think the trend can be reversed if we all do our part – you know, the “it takes a village” mentality. I have been busy talking to a lot of people lately who are already Making a Healthy Difference and will share their stories with you very soon.

In the meantime, I’m curious – what do you think needs to be done to get us out of this mess and really turn things around?

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I feel like the the bearer of bad news this week after just telling you about the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending some children as young as eight take cholesterol lowering drugs. Now a new study from the University of Michigan says with so many overweight and obese children, there will soon be a dramatic increase in the number of younger adults with type 2 diabetes. This, of course also means there will be more serious complications – like kidney disease and heart problems – that come with the disease, which researchers say will ultimately lead to shorter life spans.

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