Health Department Issues Warning After Alarming Diabetes Study
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In the wake of a new study showing that more than 10 percent of New York City adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has issued some reminders for control and prevention.
As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said while diabetes is not curable, there are effective ways to curtail its surge.
"Diabetes is much more common in people who are overweight, and so this surge in diabetes we're seeing is in parallel with the obesity epidemic," Farley said. "People who are obese are twice as likely to have diabetes as those who are not obese, and diabetes is not curable, but it preventable, and we could prevent a lot of it by having fewer people who are overweight."
Health Department Issues Warning After Alarming Diabetes Study
"We now have 650,000 New Yorkers who are diagnosed with diabetes. That's 200,000 more than we had ten years ago," Farley said. "Diabetes causes a range of problems. It can lead to complications ranging from heart attacks to strokes to kidney failure and amputations."
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New York City comes in worse than the national average of 9.2 percent despite a recent spate of public health initiatives.
Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city has successfully imposed restrictions on salt, required restaurants to post calorie counts and is currently locked in a controversial battle with the courts to limit the size of sugary drinks to less than 16 ounces.
But some argue the disturbing diabetes numbers show more laws aren't working.
"They're trying to push people a certain way," said Staten Island resident Glen Huzinec. "If they don't want to follow it, they live the way they want to live. People are as healthy as they want to be."
"You can't force someone to follow a diet," said Upper West Side resident Susan Thompson.
The study found diabetes is most prevalent in traditionally lower-income areas, including Fordham-Bronx Park, East New York, Williamsburg, Northeast and South Bronx
The National Diabetes Association called the trend alarming and warns if nothing is done, 1 in 3 Americans could have diabetes by the year 2050.
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