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Slate has produced a sobering time lapse animation showing the inexorable spread of diabetes across America.

The rise in diabetes is, of course, linked to the rising rates of obesity across America. But what's truly stunning is just how prevalent the disease has become, and how meteoric the growth rates are. Here's what the country looks like on a county-by-county basis in 2004. The darker the color, the higher the incidence of diabetes:

[Click to visit interactive version]

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