For the first time in nearly two decades, type 2 diabetes rates appear to have plateaued among American adults, according to new findings by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their results were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The study’s statistics are based on national health survey responses from almost 665,000 American adults. The data shows that since 2008, diabetes rates in the United States have remained essentially unchanged at 8.3 percent.

But the findings aren’t good news for everyone. Among African Americans and Latinos—the population groups considered most at risk of diabetes—the metabolic disorder is still on the rise.

Despite messages promoting healthy eating and more exercise as a way to avoid developing the disease, “We’re just not reaching certain populations,” Shakira Suglia, MD, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, told the Times.

Suglia noted that for many families, diabetes prevention is not as important as putting food on the table or dealing with violence in their communities. There has to be a bigger effort not just to explain prevention, but to help high-risk populations actually accomplish it, Suglia suggested.

Genetics may also help explain why type 2 diabetes is more prevalent among people of color. Click here for more information.