9 June 2014 MedicalXpress - One-third of English adults have prediabetes, study reports

For the study, researchers analyzed data collected in 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2011 by the Health Survey for England. Sponsored by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care and the Department of Health, this population-based survey combines questionnaires with physical measurements and blood tests. The researchers classified survey participants as having prediabetes if they had a blood glucose level between 5.7 and 6.4 percent, which the American Diabetes Association considers prediabetes, and if they indicated they had not previously been diagnosed with diabetes.

The 2011 data showed that 35 percent of English adults and more than 50 percent of adults age 40 and older who were overweight had prediabetes. People with lower socioeconomic status were at substantial risk for having prediabetes.

England's prediabetes rates are similar to those in the United States, where 36 percent of adults are estimated to have the condition, but England's rates climbed more steeply than the United States' over a similar time period. While the exact cause for the rapid rise is unknown, it may be linked to increases in obesity in England in the late 1990s. Metabolic changes associated with weight gain may take several years to develop.

"The study is an important signal that we need to take action to improve our diet and lifestyles," said study co-author Richard Baker, M.D., a professor of quality in healthcare at the University of Leicester department of health sciences. "If we don't, many people will have less healthy, shorter lives."