BY ELLISON LANGFORD / Staff Writer

The number of people diagnosed with diabetes has almost doubled in the last 10 years, according to the Center for Disease Control. Roughly 90 percent have type II diabetes, which is frequently associated with obesity.

Suresh Mathews, assistant professor of nutrition and food science, said the rise in obesity and the rise in type II diabetes are so connected “If you compare the two graphs, you can almost overlay one on top of the other.”

Dr. Frederick Kam, medical director of the Auburn University Medical Clinic, said there are several factors which have contributed to the increased prevalence of obesity, which in turn has led to an increase in diabetes.

More than 60 percent of the American population is overweight, with many being overweight since childhood. He also attributed it to a decrease in physical activity.

And because people metabolize blood glucose through activity, sedentary lifestyles and sugar-laden foods make this process more difficult.

However, in addition to diabetes, health specialists are now seeing a new phenomenon which they have termed “pre-diabetes” for people who are right at the edge of potentially developing diabetes.

Mathews said pre-diabetes affects 53 million people in the U.S., meaning they have a 58 percent chance of developing diabetes. But he also said if people with pre-diabetes lose 5 to 7 percent of their body weight, they greatly reduce their risk of developing diabetes.

And in people with diabetes, sufficient weight-loss if sometimes all it takes to completely reverse their condition.

“By losing the extra weight, you’re improving the metabolism, or the way the body can handle sugar,” Mathews said. “That’s why the diabetes disappears when you have weight-loss.”

Mathews also said doctors frequently prescribe exercise in addition to medication for diabetics.

“By exercise, you can sort of bypass the insulin pathway, and then independent of insulin you can still be able to get some glucose into those starved cells.”

This way, patients can reap the benefits of two things that helps their condition.

However, health officials are also seeking to prevent diabetes, not just treat it.

“Alabama is number one in terms of diabetes,” Mathews said. “And in terms of obesity, we are always in competition with Mississippi, so one year we are number one and the other year we are number two.”

This is why the state of Alabama and Auburn University are working on promoting ways to counter obesity and diabetes.

One state-run project is Scale Back Alabama, which according to the project Web site “is a statewide campaign held the first of each year to encourage Alabamians to get healthier by losing weight and exercising.”

The contest will begin Jan. 8, 2009 and end April 1, 2009. Its goal is to see how much weight adults 18 and older can lose. The Web site includes lesson plans for each week of the program.

Efforts at the University have included a World Diabetes Day program on campus on Nov. 14, where those involved passed out flyers listing 50 ways to prevent diabetes. The flyers also included a short test to help people determine whether they might be at risk for diabetes.

Mathews said they also went to Yarbrough Elementary School and talked to students about diabetes. They encouraged them to be more physically active and to moderate calorie intake.

With regard to combating obesity-related diabetes, Kam and Mathews both said diet modification and exercise are the solution.

“People just need to work on good dietary habits, exercise and keeping their body weight appropriate,” Kam said.