Diabetes
African American Woman Tests Blood Sugar. Blood sugar is slightly high.

Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent and serious chronic diseases in the United States. More than 38.4 million people (11.6%) in the United States have diabetes, and 8.7 million (22.8%) of them don’t know they have it (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2024). In 2021, approximately 1.2 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in adults ages 18 years and older. That number is anticipated to grow as the U.S. population continues to age and more people become overweight or obese (Source: CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2024).

The Impact of Diabetes in Ohio

Did you know that nearly 1 million (13.2%) Ohio adults have been diagnosed with diabetes?

In 2022, more than 1 million (13.2%) Ohio adults were diagnosed with diabetes (Source: 2022 Ohio Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System [BRFSS]). Diabetes is the eighth leading cause of death in Ohio (Source: Ohio Bureau of Vital Statistics). In 2022, diabetes was the primary cause of death for 4,268 Ohioans and was a contributing cause of many more deaths (Source: Ohio Bureau of Vital Statistics). 


In addition, approximately 1,085,000 Ohio adults (11.8%) had been diagnosed with prediabetes (Source: 2022 Ohio BRFSS), increasing their risk of progressing to Type 2 diabetes later in life. It is estimated that another 2.4 million Ohio adults have prediabetes but have not been diagnosed (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2024). 

At the Ohio Department of Health, we promote:

  • Enhanced awareness of prediabetes and diabetes, including its complications.
  • Improved management of diabetes for those who have been diagnosed.
  • Access to quality care for disproportionately affected populations with prediabetes and diabetes. 
  • Improved access to services for underserved populations with prediabetes and diabetes.
  • Quality prediabetes and diabetes education, wellness, physical activity, healthy eating, blood pressure management, and tobacco cessation. 
  • Partnerships and community involvement to strive toward decreasing the prevalence of diabetes.