Diabetes mellitus and prediabetes are the most common endocrine diseases in the United States, affecting more than 133 million Americans. That accounts for more than a third of the American population. But if you have a family history of type 2 diabetes, the cards may feel like they’re stacked against you even higher in your fight to prevent developing the disease.

How Genetics and Family Habits Affect Diabetes

Family genetics do play a role in the development of diabetes, but it’s not as simple as you may think. Unlike some traits, like your mother’s eyes, your grandfather’s height, or your father’s widow’s peak, diabetes does not seem to be inherited in such a simple pattern.

Although a family member cannot physically pass the disease to you or you to your children, like a cold or the flu, they are likely to pass down a predisposition to the disease. That predisposition mixed with an environmental trigger is what causes the development of diabetes. Since families do tend to pass down the environmental triggers, like poor diet or exercise habits, someone who is already predisposed genetically has a higher chance of developing diabetes.  

Getting Started Begins with Lifestyle

How an individual chooses to live can play an important role in developing the disease. While we don’t know what causes diabetes, there are certain risk factors for the disease. Some of these risk factors can be altered and others can’t.

Risk factors you can’t change include:

• Age
• Race
• Gender
• Family history

The good news is that there are many lifestyle choices one can make to reduce their risk, such as being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight.

It is recommended that adults obtain 150 minutes each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 minutes each week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity.

Children should also get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day, including aerobic exercise, and muscle- and bone-strengthening activities, like climbing on playground equipment, swinging on monkey bars or riding a bike.

Weight management is just as important as getting the adequate amount of exercise when trying to reduce your risk of developing diabetes. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association states that nearly 70 percent of adults and nearly 32 percent of children in the United States are overweight or obese.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a free resource provided by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, to give Americans a tool to develop and help implement a healthier diet into their lifestyle. If you prefer more guidance, Texas Health has registered dietitians, nutritionists and certified diabetes educators to help you get started and achieve goals.  

If you’re already living with diabetes or prediabetes, the diagnosis can be a bit discouraging, especially if you took steps to try to prevent the disease. The good news is that diabetes is highly manageable.   

For more information about diabetes visit TexasHealth.org/Diabetes.