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Over the last two decades, diabetes rates have been on the rise, with signs of slowing down. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.3% of the U.S. population has diabetes. This accounts for both Type 1 and Type II.

A recent study has revealed that in Lunenburg, an estimated percentage of adults with diabetes at 13% (3 points higher than the state percentage), putting them at number 12 out of the top 50 in a recent study.

The data collected by Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest diabetes rate in Virginia using data from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute through a collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The data include percentages, rates and rankings for each county within the 50 states according to its health outcomes and multiple health factors.

Data sources include the U.S. Census and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

In 2020, diabetes was ranked 8th in the list of leading causes of death in the U.S., but the disease does not affect everyone equally.

According to the study, factors like poverty, geographic region, and race influence diabetes rates. Certain groups are more vulnerable to the disease; however, poverty is one of the most significant contributing factors.

According to Diabetes in Control, a publication for medical professionals, low-income populations have been found to be more likely to develop diabetes. A hazardous home environment, unhealthy behaviors, obesity, and stress are all risks contributing to a higher incidence of diabetes among poor populations.

“Generally speaking, subjects who lived more often in poverty during the 12-year study period had a 41 percent greater chance of developing the disease. When obesity and physical activity were considered, the risk remained very high, at 36 percent.” the report noted

Those facts account for Type II diabetes which can be controlled by diet, exercise and some medication.

Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin.

More than 95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes is primarily the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.

Type I, known as juvenile diabetes, is not brought on by food or lack of exercise but rather by the body’s white cells attaching to the pancreas, causing it to stop producing insulin. Genetics appear to play a role in this process.