Diabetes Education 

Nature, nurture or booth

Get the facts about diabetes, environment and genetic.

Genetics and the environment both play a role in whether or not someone will develop diabetes, according to American Diabetes Association.

    Type 1 and type 2 diabetes have different causes, but they are both associated with two important factors: a person must have an inherited predisposition to diabetes and something in the surrounding environment must trigger the disease.

    Some researchers believe type 1 diabetes may be triggered by environmental factors such as cold weather, viruses and diet, according to the ADA. Type 1 diabetes develops more often during winter months than summer months and is more common in colder areas.

    Studies have also show that type 1 diabetes has also been found to be less common in people who who ate solid foods at later ages.

    Genetic play a greater role in the development of type 2 diabetes than in type 1 diabetes; type 2 diabetes tends to run in families, which may be due in part to children learning bad dietary and exercise habits.

    People living in the United States and Europe typically do not exercise enough, eat too little fiber and too much carbohydrate and fat, according to the ADA. People living in  non-Westernized areas tend not to develop as much type 2 diabetes, regardless of their genetic.

General chance of

developing diabetes

Ø       If the father has type 1 diabetes, the child has a 1 in 17 chance of developing diabetes.

Ø       A child has a 1 in 25 chance of developing diabetes if the mother has type 1 diabetes and gave birth before the age of 25. Chances are 1 in 100 if the child was born after she turned 25.

Ø       A child has a 1 in 7 chance of developing diabetes if the father has type 2 diabetes and was diagnosed before the age 50; chances are 1 in 13 if the person was diagnosed after age of 50.