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Health paradox: New US diabetes cases fall as obesity rises

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 file photo, two overweight women tour the World Trade Center in New York. A study published by the journal Cell on Thursday, April 18, 2019 suggests that a genetic test can identify newborns at heightened risk of becoming severely obese by middle age, possibly giving time for interventions designed to head off that fate. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 file photo, two overweight women tour the World Trade Center in New York. A study published by the journal Cell on Thursday, April 18, 2019 suggests that a genetic test can identify newborns at heightened risk of becoming severely obese by middle age, possibly giving time for interventions designed to head off that fate. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – The number of new diabetes cases among U.S. adults keeps falling, even as obesity rates climb, and health officials aren’t sure why.

New federal data released Tuesday found the number of new diabetes diagnoses fell to about 1.3 million in 2017, down from 1.7 million in 2009.

Earlier research had spotted a decline, and the new report shows it’s been going on for close to a decade. But health officials are not celebrating.

“The bottom line is we don’t know for sure what’s driving these trends,” said the lead author of the new report, Dr. Stephen Benoit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the possibilities: Changes in testing and getting people to improve their health before becoming diabetic.

The report was published by the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. The statistics run through 2017. Last year’s numbers are not yet available, Benoit said.