When Diabetes Screening Should Start For Overweight, Obese Individuals According To Recommendations

People who are considered obese or overweight should start getting screened for diabetes five years earlier than the recommended age.

Amid the rising rate of obesity and being overweight among Americans, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended people who are considered as such to get screened for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes at age 35 instead of 40.

Being obese or overweight is among the biggest risk factors for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, the Task Force said in a statement. And apart from potentially leading to serious health problems in the future, such as limb amputation, stroke and heart disease, diabetes is actually the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.

"We know the rates of prediabetes and diabetes are increasing in people who are younger," task force member Chien-Wen Tseng, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.E. of the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine said as per NBC News. "Our main reason for dropping the age is to match the screening with where the problem is: If diabetes and prediabetes are occurring at a younger age, then we should be screening at a younger age."

Further, by lowering the screening age for people who may be more at risk for developing the condition, there's a chance of detecting the condition earlier and implementing the necessary interventions.

Prediabetes, for instance, is the condition when a person's blood sugar is already higher than normal but still not enough to be diagnosed with diabetes, the Task Force explained. If the condition is caught at this stage, it may still be possible to "prevent or delay" the development of diabetes through interventions such as important lifestyle changes and medication.

"Screening and earlier detection can help prevent prediabetes and diabetes from getting worse and leading to other health problems," task force member Michael Barry, M.D. said in the statement.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that the prevalence of obesity has significantly increased from 30.5% in 1999-2000 to 42.4% in 2017-2018. According to the agency, the condition affects some groups more than others, with non-Hispanic Black adults having the highest obesity prevalence, followed by Hispanic adults.

And it's not just a problem in the U.S. The World Health Organization noted that since 1975, obesity has tripled worldwide. By 2016, over 1.9 billion adults 18 years old and above were already considered overweight, 650 million of whom were obese.