Chronic Diseases

This dashboard allows you to compare the prevalence of obesity and diabetes across states, counties, and age groups — and across data sources.

In this dashboard, obesity prevalence represents the percentage of the population with an elevated Body Mass Index (BMI ≥ 30) or the percentage of the population that have a medical claim that mentions obesity, while diabetes prevalence represents the percentage with elevated Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%), the percentage who self-report a history of diabetes, or the percentage of people with a medical claim that mentions diabetes, depending on the data source.

Each data source measures obesity and diabetes differently, using distinct definitions, methods, and populations:

• Epic Cosmos - Drawn from clinical electronic health records (EHRs). For both obesity and diabetes, we provide two ways of measuring prevalence. The first set of definitions is based on clinical or laboratory measurements. Obesity is defined as BMI ≥ 30 based on measurements recorded in their health records. For diabetes, this dataset identifies people with a history of laboratory-measured HbA1c (≥ 6.5%), representing uncontrolled diabetes. The second set of definitions for obesity and diabetes is based on the presence of relevant ICD-10 diagnosis codes in the patient records, based on the criteria in the chronic conditions warehouse.
• CDC BRFSS - Based on self-reported health information from adults via telephone survey. Obesity is defined as BMI ≥ 30 based on self-reported height and weight. For diabetes, this dataset identifies people who report having ever been told they have diabetes, representing ever-diagnosed diabetes.
• Medicare Fee-For-Service - Uses diagnosis (ICD-10) codes to identify obesity or diabetes based on medical claims from the previous 2 years. Because obesity isn’t always coded during visits, it’s often under-reported in this dataset.

These differences mean the same person could appear in one dataset and not another — for example, someone with well-controlled diabetes (A1c < 6.5%) might report having diabetes in BRFSS and have a diagnosis code in Medicare, but not appear as diabetic in Epic Cosmos based on HbA1c measurements.

Each visualization shows you a different way to view or compare the data:

• Obesity and Diabetes Prevalence by State or County – Maps show how obesity and diabetes rates vary geographically across the U.S.
• Prevalence of Obesity and Diabetes Over Time in the United States – Charts show how rates of obesity and diabetes are changing across the United States over time, and how these trends vary by data set.
• Prevalence of Obesity and Diabetes by Age in the United States – Charts show how prevalence differs by age group and how prevalence compares between each state and the national average.
• Obesity vs. Diabetes Prevalence in the United States – Scatter plots show the correlation between obesity and diabetes at the state level for each data set.
• Different Ways of Measuring Chronic Disease – A side-by-side view comparing how rates differ across data sources.

Together, these views show how chronic disease estimates vary based on population coverage, data type, and disease definitions — helping you see a richer, more complete picture of how obesity and diabetes affect communities across the U.S.