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).

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 with diabetes who smoke have a higher risk of complications from diabetes than do those who do not smoke.