A new study has shown that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is sharply increasing in aging and younger populations in the United States, the Washington Post reports. The study showed that between 1994−95 and 2003-04, new diabetes diagnoses increased by 23 percent, while the number of people living with the disease increased by 62 percent.

According to the American Diabetes Association, about 11.4 percent of all African Americans aged 20 and older have diabetes, and a third of them don’t know it. Diabetes brings with it high risks of kidney disease, eye disease, amputations and blindness, and the new study showed that almost half of participants with diabetes had congestive heart failure.

There are steps you can take to lower your risk of developing diabetes, such as proper nutrition and a healthy amount of physical exercise.

Visit the American Diabetes Association’s website for information about healthy recipes, overcoming exercise barriers and more.