New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Abstract

Thorpe et al. (1) are to be commended for undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of glycemic status in adults from New York City. Their article represents the efforts of a health and nutrition survey within a large metropolitan area, the New York City (NYC) Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES), and provides very useful information concerning the prevalence of hyperglycemia and control of diabetes in an urban setting. Such efforts have been undertaken in the U.S. by way of national surveys of the populace in terms of lifestyle behaviors and risk factor levels over several decades (2–4), but a survey that used population-based methods in a single city is new, provides valuable information, and may well serve as a model for the future. The study by Thorpe et al. reports that diabetes affects 12.5% of adults living in New York City and that the frequency of pre-diabetes, which was previously called “impaired fasting glucose,” was almost double that (23.5%). Using the 1997 American Diabetes Association criteria for diabetes and data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988–1994), the investigators reported that the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose was 6.9%, undiagnosed diabetes 2.8%, and diagnosed diabetes 5.1% (5). Previously, Harris et al. expressed concern that the prevalence of diabetes in American adults aged 40–74 years had increased from 8.9% in 1976–1980 to 12.3% in 1988–1994. The 1999–2003 NHANES estimates of diabetes are generally 6.6% at ages 40–59 years and ∼15.5% after age 60 years, which suggests that the national prevalence of diabetes after age 40 …