The bad news about our diabetes epidemic just got worse—across the nation, in the South, and right here in the commonwealth.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported staggering statistics about obesity-linked type 2 diabetes. In the report’s 15-year period, 18 states doubled their rates of diabetes and 42 states saw their rate jump by 50 percent or more.

 

The South is home to the states with the biggest increases—the worst include Oklahoma (226 percent), Kentucky (158 percent), Georgia (145 percent) and Alabama (140 percent). Other Southern states that doubled, or more than doubled, their rates include West Virginia (131.1 percent), Maryland (102.3 percent), and South Carolina and Tennessee (both at 100.0 percent).

 

Virginia isn’t too far behind. Although it wasn’t one of the states that doubled its rate, it was shy by just 2.4 percentage points with a 97.6 percent increase.

 

In six states—including Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia—plus Puerto Rico, one in 10 adults now has diabetes.

 

The CDC cites the main cause of the increase as American’s increasing obesity. More than a third of U.S. adults are now considered obese, and the highest obesity rates are, not surprisingly, in the South.