Recent trends in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the association with abdominal obesity lead to growing health disparities in the USA: An analysis of the NHANES surveys from 1999 to 2014

AIM: To assess whether the secular trends in type 2 diabetes prevalence differ between abdominally obese and non‐obese individuals. METHODS: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) were used to estimate the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and abdominal obesity among individuals aged ≥20 years in the USA from 1999/2000 to 2013/2014, after standardization to the age, sex and ethnicity population distribution estimates on January 1, 2014, as published by the US Census Bureau. RESULTS: The prevalence of abdominal obesity in the US population increased from 47.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 42.6‐52.2) in 1999/2000 to 57.2% (95% CI 55.9‐58.5) in 2013/2014. A significant increase was observed in all age groups: 20 to 44, 45 to 64, and ≥65 years. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has also increased from 8.8% (95% CI 7.2‐10.4) in 1999/2000 to 11.7% (95% CI 10.9‐12.6) in 2013/2014, with no substantial change in trend over the recent years. However, the increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was limited to individuals with abdominal obesity, and more specifically to individuals aged ≥45 years with abdominal obesity, with no significant change in prevalence in the non‐obese group and in individuals aged <45 years. CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the critical importance of abdominal obesity—both as a likely key contributor to the continuing epidemic of type 2 diabetes in the USA and as a priority target for public health interventions.