Half of Americans have diabetes or prediabetes: study

About half of U.S. adults have either diabetes or prediabetes, a new study said Tuesday.

The study, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, found that the prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults was 12 percent to 14 percent in 2012 while the prevalence of prediabetes was 37 percent to 38 percent.

Additionally, the prevalence of diabetes for all American adults went up, from nearly 10 percent to over 12 percent between 1988 and 2012.

Diabetes prevalence also went up in every age, sex, level of education, income and racial and ethnic subgroup, said the study, which used results from a large national health survey.

Despite an increase in diabetes prevalence between 1988 and 2012, prevalence estimates changed little between 2007 and 2012, suggesting the rise of diabetes in the U.S. may be leveling off.

"This plateauing of diabetes prevalence is consistent with obesity trends in the United States showing a leveling off around the same period," said the study.

"Although obesity and type 2 diabetes remain major clinical and public health problems in the United States, the current data provide a glimmer of hope," William Herman and Amy Rothberg of the University of Michigan Health System said in an accompanying editorial. "Multifaceted approaches addressing both environmental factors and individual behaviors appear to be slowing the increase in obesity and diabetes ... but expanded and sustained efforts will be required."