Recent trends in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the association with abdominal obesity lead to growing health disparities in the USA: An analysis of the NHANES surveys from 1999 to 2014

AIM To assess whether the secular trends in type 2 diabetes prevalence differ between abdominally obese and non-obese individuals. METHODS Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) were used to estimate the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and abdominal obesity among individuals aged ≥20 years in the USA from 1999/2000 to 2013/2014, after standardization to the age, sex and ethnicity population distribution estimates on January 1, 2014, as published by the US Census Bureau. RESULTS The prevalence of abdominal obesity in the US population increased from 47.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 42.6-52.2) in 1999/2000 to 57.2% (95% CI 55.9-58.5) in 2013/2014. A significant increase was observed in all age groups: 20 to 44, 45 to 64, and ≥65 years. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has also increased from 8.8% (95% CI 7.2-10.4) in 1999/2000 to 11.7% (95% CI 10.9-12.6) in 2013/2014, with no substantial change in trend over the recent years. However, the increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was limited to individuals with abdominal obesity, and more specifically to individuals aged ≥45 years with abdominal obesity, with no significant change in prevalence in the non-obese group and in individuals aged <45 years. CONCLUSION These findings highlight the critical importance of abdominal obesity-both as a likely key contributor to the continuing epidemic of type 2 diabetes in the USA and as a priority target for public health interventions.