California Diabetes Fact Sheet describes
- Number of Californians with diabetes
- Prevalence of diabetes in California among different populations
- Types of diabetes
- Risk factors for diabetes
- Information about the prevention of diabetes and its complications
- Cost of diabetes to the state of California
- Description of the California Diabetes Program
- Key Objectives of the California Diabetes Program
Select a fact sheet by clicking a link by year for downloading and viewing:
- California Diabetes Fact Sheet 2012
- California Diabetes Fact Sheet 2011
- California Diabetes Fact Sheet 2009
- California Diabetes Fact Sheet 2008
- California Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007
Diabetes in California Counties
Diabetes is a complex disease that is sweeping the country. Its prevalence is strongly influenced by social circumstances and social policy and its management by health policy. California has nearly three million people with diabetes, meaning that more than 1 out of 10 adult Californians has diabetes. From 1998 to 2007, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes rose from 5.5 to 7.6 percent, representing a 38 percent increase in one decade. California has the greatest number of people in the US who are newly diagnosed with diabetes. In 2007, about 7.9 million (29 percent, or nearly 1 in 3) adults in California had prediabetes, a condition that often precedes type 2 diabetes. Prevalence of gestational diabetes (diabetes that occurs in the context of pregnancy) has increased 60 percent in California in just seven years, from 3.3 percent of hospital deliveries in 1998 to 5.3 percent in 2005. In addition, small studies suggest a consistent increase in diabetes among children and youth. California’s ethnically diverse population has a higher risk and prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Total health care and related costs for the treatment of diabetes in California alone is about $24.5 billion each year. As such, diabetes in California represents a significant and growing economic drain for families, employers, and communities, especially during these difficult economic times.
This document presents some key diabetes statistics in California counties. Its purpose is to provide background information and facts about diabetes.
Notable findings include:
- especially high rates of diabetes in California’s Central Valley;
- high prevalence of being uninsured and having diabetes (especially among the Hispanic/Latino population), and the tremendous county-by-county variation in coverage of uninsured people with diabetes; and
- growing prevalence of diabetes in young adults (ages 18-44) and the behavioral and health access risk profiles that make them particularly vulnerable to developing complications in the prime of their lives. These include especially high rates of con-current tobacco use (20%) and heart disease (8%), high rates of un-insurance (30%), and low rates of receipt of recommended services such as eye exams and influenza vaccination.