There was a 141% increase in the rate of morbid obesity among adults with type 2 diabetes between 1976 to 1980 and 2005 to 2006, according to a Loyola University Health System study.

Stay connected - Sign Up for the E-mail News Wire!

More than 60% of U.S. adults with type 2 diabetes are obese, and 20.7% are morbidly obese. Further, one in three black adults with type 2 diabetes is morbidly obese.

The greatest growth in obesity has been among morbidly obese adults with diabetes, according to the researchers.

Researchers pooled data from the National Health and Examination Surveys during 1976 to 2006 for 4,162 adults with type 2 diabetes and 40,376 adults without type 2 diabetes. Trends in mean BMI, waist circumference and prevalence of total obesity (BMI =30) and obesity stage III (BMI =40) were assessed by survey periods following adjustment for the survey period weight and age standardization of the U.S. 2,000 Census.

Mean BMI increased from 29.2 to 34.2 in adults with type 2 diabetes (a 17% increase) vs. 25.2 to 28.1 in adults without diabetes (P<.0001 for both). Mean waist circumference significantly increased in all groups.

Overall obesity increased by 58% and 136% in adults with and without type 2 diabetes; stage III obesity increased by 141% and 345% (P<.0001 for all).

Moreover, the average age of adults with type 2 diabetes increased from 56.7 years in 1976 to 1980 to 59.9 years in 2005 to 2006. The percentage of men with type 2 diabetes increased from 42.9% to 46.3%.

“The rate of morbid obesity among people with diabetes is increasing at a very alarming rate, and this has substantial public health implications,” Holly Kramer, MD, kidney disease specialist at Loyola University Health System, said in a press release.

The researchers attributed inexpensive food, larger portion sizes and consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks to the increase in obesity among adults with diabetes.

Kramer H. J Diab Comp. 2009; doi:10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2009.10.001