A Third of NYC Diabetes Cases Undiagnosed

Nearly 4% of New Yorkers have diabetes and another 25% have Pre-Diabetes and don’t know it, according to a report released Tuesday by the New York City Health Department. According the city’s first-ever Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, more than 100,000 New York City adults are at risk for heart attack, blindness, amputation or other health complications caused by diabetes. In the city, 12.5% of residents have diabetes, yet one-third of them, or approximately 207,000 people, are unaware they have the disease.

The survey was based on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which uses a one-time screening test that includes household visits and face-to-face interviews.

In the past, the city calculated diabetes rates through a phone survey, which relied on self-reported information. The Health Department survey found that 9% of respondents reported being diagnosed with diabetes, slightly higher than the 7.3% national average and consistent with historical figures.

However, the report also found that 3.8% of respondents had diabetes but were unaware, compared to 3% nationally. In addition, another 23.5% had pre-diabetes, characterized by higher-than-normal fasting blood sugar.

The high numbers are consistent with reports of diabetes’ rampant growth in the city, where rates have doubled in the past 10 years. The recently-created New York Health Foundation issued four of its first 23 grants to causes dealing with obesity, nutrition and physical fitness, marking the largest number of grants devoted to any one subject.

"New York City is getting healthier by almost all measures, except for the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes which, are getting worse by the year," said Health Commission Dr. Thomas Frieden.

The survey included approximately 2,000 randomly selected new Yorkers from 144 neighborhoods in all five boroughs. Data was collected from June to December of 2004.
NY Times Jan. 30, 2007

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