Type 2 Diabetes in Children
What Increases Your Risk
The major risk factors for type 2 diabetes in children include:
- Being overweight.
- Getting little or no physical activity.
- Family history. At least 75% of children with type 2 diabetes have a parent, sister, or brother with the disease.2
Other factors that increase risk include:
- Race. African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander children are at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes than white American children.
- Being female. Girls are more likely to develop the disease than boys.
- The child's mother having diabetes that developed during pregnancy (gestational diabetes).
- The child being small for gestational age at birth.
Medical conditions that contribute to the risk of complications in adolescence and beyond include:
- High blood pressure.
- High cholesterol and high triglycerides.
- Fatty liver, in which fat is deposited in the liver.
- Sleep apnea, in which breathing stops briefly during sleep.
Teens who have diabetes and smoke have a higher risk of complications from diabetes than do those who do not smoke.
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| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS | Last Updated: July 28, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics Stephen LaFranchi, MD - Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology | |
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