The CDC Reports 1/3 Of Tweens & Teens Have Prediabetes

A recent report bulletin from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers parents, caregivers, and doctors across the country a dire warning: an estimated 8.4 million American adolescents (12 to 17 years old) in 2023 had pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes, defined as having blood sugar levels higher than average but below the threshold of being diagnosed with diabetes, is seen by many as a precursor to developing Type 2 diabetes.

This grim number is an estimate based on data from CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES is a nationally representative sample of the national population and collects information on various demographic and health indicators through interviews, exams, and laboratory testing.

The news, while shocking, is perhaps not exactly surprising. Another CDC report found that 50% of Americans’ diet consists of ultraprocessed foods. These are foods that are not always easily defined but, generally speaking, can be understood as foods that cannot be made in a home kitchen as they require specialized equipment or ingredients typically not used in home-cooking. Often these foods are high in sugars, salts, and fats but low in fiber, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals.

But before parents panic about their child’s health, or the health of the nation’s youth in general, there are some mitigating factors to consider regarding limitations to this study… including the fact that the CDC does not appear to have published the study at all — only a brief summary of their new findings.

What little information we have on the study also calls into question the findings. CDC also changed the methodology used to calculate the estimate from what they’ve done in the past without really explaining why, and admit that doing so resulted in a “significant increase in prediabetes. When applying current methods to the previous estimate, prevalence of prediabetes for 2005–2016 for 12–17 years would have been 28.0%.”

Furthermore, by CDC’s own admission, adolescents with two abnormal blood sugar tests — both over the long term and short term — accounted for just 2.5% of the adolescent population and were only measured once. In other words, we don’t have longterm data on the participants that would indicate definitively that their blood sugar levels are consistently elevated in a way that could indicate pre-diabetes.

There’s also the matter of the designation of pre-diabetes in general: a term some physicians regard as an important preventive diagnosis while others believe it does more harm than good. The American Diabetes Association believes this diagnosis can help people make lifestyle changes — such as an improved diet, better exercise and sleep — that can help patients avoid developing diabetes. But others, including the World Health Organization (WHO), reject pre-diabetes as a diagnosis altogether. They say there is not sufficient evidence to indicate higher-than-average blood sugar levels alone de facto leads to diabetes.

Nevertheless, the CDC’s findings can stand as an important reminder to keep healthy choices about diet and exercise in mind, not just for ourselves, but for our kids. Of course, on a policy level that has become more difficult for families as federal programs focusing on nutrition and healthcare — including SNAP and Medicaid — are being gutted by the Trump administration.