Type 1 diabetes
You’re more likely to get type 1 diabetes if you’re a child or teenager, you have a parent or sibling with the condition, or you carry certain genes that are linked to the disease.
Type 2 diabetes
Your risk for type 2 diabetes increases if you:
- are overweight
- are age 45 or older
- have a parent or sibling with the condition
- aren’t physically active
- have had gestational diabetes
- have prediabetes
- have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or high triglycerides
Type 2 diabetes also disproportionately affects certain racial and ethnic populations.
Adults who have African American, Hispanic or Latino American, or Asian American ancestry are more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes than white adults, according to 2016 research. They’re also more likely to experience decreased quality of care and increased barriers to self-management.
Type 1.5 diabetes
Type 1.5 diabetes is found in adults over 30 and is often mistaken for type 2, but people with this condition are not necessarily overweight, and oral medications and lifestyle changes have no effect.