This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State health officials say Utah's high rate of physical activity, coupled with its relatively low obesity rate, explains why a recent national report found that Utah had the lowest rate of diabetes in the U.S. last year.
The Gallup Healthways report, released Wednesday, found that the rate of diabetes in Utah was 7.4 percent in 2015, an amount much lower than the national estimate of 11.4 percent. Rhode Island and Colorado also had a diabetes incident rate under 8 percent that year, the report found.
"The risk factors of diabetes are age, obesity and physical inactivity," said Brenda Ralls, an epidemiologist at the state Department of Health's Healthy Living through Environment, Policy and Improvement Clinical Care Program. Utahns "are more physically active," younger and less obese than most of the country, she said.
The rate of diabetes in the nation's adult population has increased to 11.5 percent for 2016 year to date, from 10.6 percent in 2008, the report found.
If not properly managed, diabetes — the country's sixth leading cause of death — can cause blindness, heart disease and kidney failure, among other things, according to the state program.
So, the state offers free diabetes and pre-diabetes classes, where Utahns can learn how to deal with the symptoms of diabetes, for example, as well as appropriate use of medication and healthy eating. Those classes can be found at livingwell.utah.gov.
The prevalence of obesity, a risk factor for developing diabetes, also has increased, the report found. Since 2008, the rate of obesity in the U.S. has increased nearly 3 percentage points to 28.3 percent in 2016.
"The prevalence of diabetes and obesity continue to increase dramatically," said Steven Edelman, founder and director of Taking Control of Your Diabetes, in the report. "We have an epidemic on our hands."
Utah has bucked the trend in that regard. Though state officials say the obesity rate still is too high, it has decreased in recent years. The state's rate of obesity was 24.5 percent in 2015, down from 25.7 percent in 2014.
That makes Utah one of only seven areas — joined by California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana and Washington, D.C., — with a rate between 20 percent and 25 percent, the CDC reported.
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