U.S. health improving, but diabetes worsening.

Average life expectancies for American men and women reached all-time highs in 2001 and infant mortality fell to its lowest rate ever, but a dramatic rise in the incidence of diabetes is causing concern among health experts and medical professionals.

In its annual report on the nation's health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes several encouraging trends, namely a narrowing of the gap between blacks' and whites' average life expectancies and a 60-year low in the birth rate for teenagers. But the report also states that 6.5 percent of American adults were diagnosed with diabetes in 2002, up from 5.1 percent in 1997.

The American Diabetes Association estimates that of the approximately 17 million people in the United States with diabetes, one-third are unaware they have the disease. People with diabetes--a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy--run the risk of severe complications, including heart disease, chronic kidney disease, blindness, and amputations. Two of three people with diabetes the from heart disease or strokes, and diabetes was the fifth-leading cause of death among women and the sixth-leading cause among men in 2001.

Eating a healthy diet and engaging in regular physical activity can help reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes, but the HHS report reveals that the obesity rate in the United States has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 15 percent to 31 percent. This trend is expected to worsen, as more than one in three female high school students and one in four of their male classmates do not engage in recommended amounts of physical exercise.