US health clinics failing to screen for diabetes

A new countrywide study into how health clinics deal with obesity and diabetes treatment in the US has found that local health clinics are not offering the best level of service in terms of diabetes screening or obesity prevention.
It recommended that clinics have to improve in order to deal with the increasing problem from type 2 diabetes and obesity in the country, especially among the poor. Ann Albright, who co-authored the study, said “These are huge problems that we’re facing. We want to be sure that we’re responding effectively.”
The amount of obese adults in the US doubled between 1980 and 2004, to an estimated 72 million. There was also a doubling of those with diabetes over the same time period, to more than 5 per cent of the population.
The research, which was published in the American Journal of Public Health, revealed that about 56 per cent of health clinics offered obesity prevention programmes, while 51 per cent offered diabetes screening, and about a third of health clinics offered both.
The study shows how health clinics that have greater resources are able to offer more varied services, and that the clinics that do offer such programmes are most likely to get further funding in this area. There are still concerns, however, that the screening programmes are only identifying issues with diabetes and obesity, but not actually helping those with problems.