The rise of Obesity and type 2 diabetes in America. Literature review - Assignment Example

Some states, such as Mississippi, had higher rates of obesity and diabetes than the national average, at 24.3 percent and 8.8 percent respectively, while states like Alaska had lower prevalence rates than average, at 4.4 percent for diabetes, and Colorado, at 13.8 prevalence rates for obesity (Mokdad et al.). The escalation in the obesity and diabetes rates is likewise reflected in rising rates of obesity among children below the age of 5 years in America and the rest of the world, with the rise in obesity associated with a correlative rise in type 2 diabetes rates among the same age group (Deckelbaum and Williams 239s).

Fast forward to the present, and newer data suggests a further escalation in the rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in America, mirroring the global rise in rates of the two conditions all over the world. Worldwide, about 1.6 billion adults were deemed overweight in 2005, rising to 2.3 billion 2.3 billion by 2015. Obesity figures are expected to balloon to 700 million. In America, by 2005-2006, obesity rates had soared to 33 percent, where the greatest representation of obese people came from the Mexican-American females and Black Americans.

These figures are expected to further rise, triggering a massive health crisis. . On the other hand, the obesity trends where the metric used as standard is abdominal obesity, measured by waist size, likewise show a general long-term trend towards increased obesity rates (Moffat and Prowse 231-232). Looking at the long term picture, meanwhile, it is clear that diabetes and obesity rates are expected to rise even more sharply, with global estimates at the rise in incidences of diabetes pegged at 20 percent for the developed world from 2010 to 2030, and 69 percent for the whole planet.

In the United States, the number of adults with diabetes is expected to rise from 26.8 million people in 2010 to 36 million in 2030, making the United States number three among countries in terms of diabetes incidence for the adult population worldwide (Shaw et al. 5-11). These are essentially macro, big picture views of trends in diabetes and obesity in the US as they compare with the rest of the world. Looking at the micro view, meanwhile, the picture in the United States is one of increasing variances in the occurrence of obesity and type 2 diabetes by ethnicity.

The figures from 2009 reflect observations elsewhere, that some ethnic groups have higher rates of diabetes compared to others. In the concrete, among a sample population consisting of adults who are deemed overweight, one study notes that over time, the rates of diabetes has increased 60 percent for Black Americans, 227.3 percent for Mexican Americans, but only 33.3 percent among white Americans. One interesting fact is that among groups who have undiagnosed diabetic conditions, there are fewer disparities among ethnic groups.

This analysis is from data on diabetes rates among different ethnic groups from 1971 to 2004, among adults between the