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Diabetes is a major chronic disease that was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2017. Although diabetes self-management education (DSME) programs have been implemented to promote patients' self-management skills, the disease continues to grow and some regions have a heavier burden of diabetes diagnoses than others. Focusing on the unbalanced diabetes prevalence across counties, this study aims to identify regional distribution of diabetes education programs in Texas counties, and explore whether diabetes prevalence is worse in certain counties that are geographically isolated from DSME programs. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Diabetes Association, and American Association of Diabetes Educators were analyzed using ESRI ArcGIS software. When the authors geocoded 167 DSME programs in Texas, it was found that 47 programs (28.7%) were concentrated in 1 single county, and only 49 counties (19.3%) of the total counties (n = 254) had at least 1 DSME program. It also was revealed that the 25 counties (10%) with the highest diabetes prevalence had only 4 DSME programs (2.4%), indicating that there are still marginalized areas with no access to diabetes education programs. Considering the distance from each county's center to the nearest DSME program and diabetes prevalence, 3 counties were identified as diabetes education deserts. When designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies to reduce the burden of diabetes, policy makers and health care providers should account for the existing regional disparity in diabetes education and its impact on diabetes prevalence.

Diabetes has become a critical population health issue in the United States. Although researchers have focused on diabetes prevalence at the individual level, few studies address community contexts of diabetes prevalence at the county level. The objective of this study is to explore the association between community characteristics and diabetes prevalence in 254 counties in Texas. Using 3 countywide data sets in 2012, the authors measured county-level community characteristics, including social, environmental, and health behavior factors, and examined how these county-level factors are associated with diabetes prevalence. Multivariate ordinary least squares models weighted with population of county were used for estimation. Rurality, physical inactivity prevalence, and obesity prevalence were positively associated with diabetes prevalence, while the percentage of nonphysician health care professionals was negatively associated with diabetes prevalence. The findings indicate that environmental and health behaviors are significantly associated with a high prevalence of diabetes, but more nonphysician health care professionals, including nurse practitioners, may mitigate diabetes prevalence. This study highlights the significance of community factors in diabetes prevalence and provides insights for diabetes prevention programs with nonphysician health care professionals.

Diabetes knows no age and affects millions of individuals. Preventing diabetes in children is increasingly becoming a major health policy concern and focus. The objective of this study is to project the number of children, aged 0-17 years, with diagnosed diabetes in the United States through 2030, accounting for changing demography, and diabetes and obesity prevalence rates. The study team combined historic diabetes and obesity prevalence data with US child population estimates and projections. A times-series regression model was used to forecast future diabetes prevalence and to account for the relationship between the forecasted diabetes prevalence and the lagged prevalence of childhood obesity. Overall, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes is projected to increase 67% from 0.22% in 2010 to 0.36% in 2030. Lagged obesity prevalence in Hispanic boys and non-Hispanic black girls was significantly associated with increasing future diabetes prevalence. The study results showed that a 1% increase in obesity prevalence among Hispanic boys from the previous year was significantly associated with a 0.005% increase in future prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in children (P ≤ 0.01). Likewise, a unit increase in obesity prevalence among non-Hispanic black girls was associated with a 0.003% increase in future diabetes prevalence (P0.05). Obesity rates for other race/ethnicity combinations were not associated with increasing future diabetes prevalence. To mitigate the continued threat posed by diabetes, serious discussions need to focus on the pediatric population, particularly non-Hispanic black girls and Hispanic boys whose obesity trends show the strongest associations with future diabetes prevalence in children.