The term Diabetes Belt was first coined by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in a 2011 study. The CDC study looked at the physical distribution of people with diabetes in the United States. What they discovered was that there was an area, roughly in the shape of a belt that had a significantly higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes cases.
The Diabetes belt is located primarily in the Southeast United States and covers 15 states and 64 counties. A county was placed in the belt if at least 11 percent of the county population has diabetes.
Obviously, there are other U.S. counties, not included in the belt, that have a diabetes prevalence of at least 11 percent. However, these counties tend to be more isolated from other high prevalence counties.
The following image is the diabetes belt:
| Alabama | Pennsylvania |
| Arkansas | South Carolina |
| Florida | Tennessee |
| Georgia | Texas |
| Kentucky | Virginia |
| Mississippi | West Virginia |
| North Carolina | Louisiana |
| Ohio |
Interestingly, the ENTIRE state of Mississippi is included in the belt. Wow! Maybe, you want to rethink the job transfer opportunity to the Magnolia State.
The following image is the diabetes prevalence for the entire country:
Avoiding diabetes
The CDC was quick to note that developing diabetes in this area, or any area is not a foregone conclusion. In fact, people who lose 5-7% of there body weight and moderately exercise 150 minutes a week, can reduce their risk of developing diabetes by up to 60 percent!
Let’s put this into perspective. If you weight 200 pounds, you need to lose 10-14 pounds. Not too bad. If you exercise 4 times a week, this would be only about 38 minutes each time. Seems like a 38 minute moderate walk should be doable 4 times a week?
The study also noted that within the diabetes belt, obesity and inactivity were the key contributors to increased risk of diabetes.
other resources
I think people, not only diabetics have known that the prevalence of diabetes has been rising in recent decades.
Whenever you see stories like this, however, it really emphasizes how big a problem diabetes has become and will become if individuals do not take proactive steps to take control of their health.
The mission of this website is to inform people what diabetes is and how we got to where we are today. The mission is also to help those with the condition and even those who are headed that way.
Diet and Exercise is the cornerstone for controlling diabetes and avoiding it all together.
If you are new to this site, check out our Exercise section. It has great tips on how to get started with an exercise program, including yoga, strength conditioning and many other ideas.
Need to lose a few pounds? Check out our Weight Loss and Diabetes section. We have many diabetic diet reviews and other dieting ideas. We also have a great Meal Plan section.
But let’s face it, you don’t need this website or any other one, to get off the couch and take a walk around the block. If you can’t do 38 minutes, start with 10 minutes and slowly work your way up. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your perfect body!