Health experts have issued repeated warnings about the epidemic for decades. Now, as the nation’s population gets older and fatter, the epidemic is growing into a major health threat. At present one in 10 U.S. adults has diabetes. Over the next three decades that ratio could increase to one in three with the disease, primarily Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 is closely related to lifestyle: eating too much and exercising too little.

Both problems are connected to our technological success. Food is cheaper and more abundant than a century ago and manual labor is disappearing.

The problem is mostly one of learning how to manage what we have.

The financial cost of the problem will be enormous. Health care costs are rising now.

As the population grows older, the costs naturally increase. But compounding the costs by treating a largely preventable disease will be a waste of scarce resources.

This doesn’t count the human costs: the early deaths, declining health and mobility and the emotional burden put on caretakers.

Many prevention efforts are under way. More are needed. And individuals and institutions across the state should be involved.

At one level we need more community-related activities, such as the YMCA’s work with groups to help people move out of the prediabetes stage through diet and exercise.

At another level, prevention involves medical screening to catch the disease before it fully develops. The Blood Bank’s glucose screening when people donate blood is a good example.

Finally, there is management of the disease itself, sticking to diets and exercising regularly. Here, loved ones can be particularly helpful.

A diabetes epidemic is a threat to the entire community. Therefore, the response should be community-wide as well. We can all play an important part.