Type 2 Diabetes: Recently Diagnosed: What Increases Your Risk

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What Increases Your Risk

Type 2 diabetes can run in families. Certain factors increase your family members' risk for developing diabetes, including:

• Being overweight. A child whose BMI is in the 85th percentile or above for his or her age has a risk of developing type 2 diabetes in childhood. The risk for type 2 diabetes increases with weight gain (increasing body mass index, or BMI), especially a gain of more than after age 18 in women or after age 21 in men. Having a large amount of fat in the abdominal area also increases the risk.¹ To determine BMI, use the interactive tools:
  • Is Your Weight Increasing Your Health Risks?
  • What Is Your Child's BMI?
• Lack of exercise. Participating in physical activity less than once a week increases a person's chance of developing type 2 diabetes by 20% to 40%.¹ One large study found that women who were sedentary, especially those who watched a lot of television, were at higher-than-average risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes.²
• Having prediabetes, or impaired glucose tolerance. In the United States, about 54 million people have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.³ A large, long-term study showed that a nutritious diet and regular exercise can prevent type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle changes reduced the risk by 58% overall and by 71% in people older than 60.⁴

For a complete list of risk factors for type 2 diabetes, see the What Increases Your Risk section of the topic Type 2 Diabetes.

Last updated:	June 16, 2008
Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
Reviewed By:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC