The new estimate is based on a revised, more accurate definition of pre-diabetes made by an international expert committee of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and published in Diabetes Care in November 2003. Under previous criteria, it had been estimated that some 20.1 million in this age group had pre-diabetes.

"Every 25 seconds, someone in America is diagnosed with diabetes," HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "These latest numbers show how urgent the problem really is. We need to help Americans take steps to prevent diabetes, or we will risk being overwhelmed by the health and economic consequences of an ever-growing diabetes epidemic."

The new definition of pre-diabetes identifies more people who are likely to develop type 2 diabetes, highlighting the importance of preventing this disease. "By identifying people with pre-diabetes, we can encourage them to take preventive measures such as losing weight, becoming physically active and eating a healthy diet, to help keep diabetes and other serious health problems at bay," Secretary Thompson said.

Secretary Thompson announced the new estimate at HHS' 2nd annual Steps to a HealthierUS Summit in Baltimore, where he advocated his program of small, achievable lifestyle steps to achieve better health and avoid chronic disease. Type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with overweight and obesity.

"Research has clearly shown that losing 5 to 7 percent of body weight through diet and increased physical activity can prevent or delay pre-diabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Allen Spiegel, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health within HHS.

On Wednesday, HHS' National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) launched the first national multicultural diabetes prevention campaign, Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent type 2 Diabetes to take action against the diabetes epidemic. The campaign includes motivational tip sheets for consumers as well as print and radio public service ads, tailored for specific high risk groups: African Americans; Hispanic and Latino Americans; American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and adults aged 60 and older.

"Without intervention, one in three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime," said Dr. Frank Vinicor, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's diabetes division. "For some of us, the risk is even higher. If that child is Hispanic and female, she has a one in two chance of developing diabetes in her lifetime. We need to get the word out that type 2 diabetes can be prevented."

Pre-diabetes may be called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), depending on the test used to diagnose it. Some people have both IFG and IGT.

The new estimate of people with pre-diabetes is detailed in the latest National Diabetes Fact Sheet, released today by HHS' CDC and NIDDK. The estimates were calculated using data from the 1988-1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and projected to the 2000 U.S. population.