Diabetes and African Americans

What is Diabetes?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Your body breaks down most of the food you eat into sugar (glucose) and releases it into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar goes up, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts like a key to let the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy.

With diabetes, your body does not make enough insulin or cannot use it as well as it should. When there is not enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, diabetes can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease. There is not a cure yet for diabetes, but losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active can really help. Other things you can do to help your diabetes include taking medication as prescribed; receiving diabetes self-management education and support; and being consistent with your medical appointments.

How Does Diabetes Affect African American Populations?

  • In 2019, non-Hispanic blacks were twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes.
  • In 2018, African American adults were 60 percent more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes by a physician.
  • In 2019, non-Hispanic blacks were 2.5 times likely to be hospitalized with diabetes and associated long-term complications than non-Hispanic whites.
  • In 2019, non-Hispanic blacks were 3.2 times more likely to be diagnosed with end stage renal disease as compared to non-Hispanic whites.

Diagnosed Cases of Diabetes

Age-adjusted percentage of adults aged 18 and over diagnosed with diabetes, 2021

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
12.77.01.8

Source: CDC 2022. National Diabetes Surveillance System. https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/diabetesatlas-surveillance.html

Age-adjusted percentage of diagnosed diabetes for adults aged 18 and over, 2018-2019

 Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men12.28.01.5
Women12.16.91.7
Total12.17.41.6

Source: CDC 2022. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2021. Appendix Table 3. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/appendix.html

Death Rates

Age-adjusted diabetes death rates per 100,000 (2019)

 Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male47.124.91.9
Female32.614.32.3
Total38.819.12.0

Source: CDC 2022. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 70, No. 8. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-08-508.pdf [PDF | 2.05MB]

Related Conditions

Age-adjusted percentage of visual impairment for adults with diabetes (2021)

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
18.416.01.2

Source:  CDC 2022.  National Diabetes Surveillance System.
https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/DiabetesAtlas.html [Accessed 12/16/2022]

Hospital admissions per 100,000 for uncontrolled diabetes without complications, age 18 and over, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
115.930.63.8

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: Table 5_4_1_1_1_.2a.
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query [Accessed 12/16/2022]

Hospital admissions with diabetes with long-term complications per 100,000, age 18 and over, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
231.594.32.5

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. https://datatools.ahrq.gov/nhqdr [Accessed 12/16/2022]

Age-adjusted incidence rate per million of end stage renal disease (ESRD) due to diabetes, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
437.5138.23.2

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query [Accessed 11/10/2022]

Age-adjusted incidence rate per million of end stage renal disease (ESRD) related to diabetes, 2018

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
326.5111.82.9

Source: CDC 2022. National Diabetes Surveillance System.
https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/diabetesatlas-surveillance.html

Treatment

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 40 years of age and over with diabetes who had received an influenza immunization, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
55.365.20.8

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: [Accessed 11/10/2022]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 40 years of age and over with diabetes who had a foot examination, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
67.366.31.0

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: [Accessed 11/10/2022]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Age-adjusted percentage of adults 40 years of age and over with diabetes who had a dilated eye examination, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
57.563.90.9

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: [Accessed 11/10/2022]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Age-adjusted percentage of adults aged 40 and over with diagnosed diabetes who received 2 or more hemoglobin A1c measurements in the calendar year, 2019

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /
Non-Hispanic White Ratio
75.179.20.9

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query: [Accessed 11/10/2022]
http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Risk Factors

There are several risk factors related to diabetes. Some of these risk factors are:
Obesity and Overweight  - See  Obesity and African Americans
Hypertension - See  Heart Disease and African Americans
High Cholesterol - See  Heart Disease and African Americans
Cigarette Smoking - See  Heart Disease and African Americans


Last Edited: 09/22/2023