Researchers are exploring why the rate of type 2 diabetes has risen among children in the United States and worldwide, especially among U.S. ethnic minorities. They believe that the complex causes of diabetes include genetics as well as behavioral, environmental, social, economic and cultural factors. Contributing factors include:

• Obesity. Up to 85 percent of children with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Obesity is strongly associated with the insulin resistance that can lead to type 2 diabetes. Obesity also contributes to double diabetes and may contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes at an earlier age. Contributors to obesity include physical inactivity and a diet high in calories, saturated fats, starches and sugars.
  
  
• Exposure in the womb. Exposure to diabetes in utero may be a cause of the increase in type 2 diabetes among children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  
  
• Genetics. A family history of diabetes increases a child’s risk of the disease. Genetics is also a factor in obesity.

Scientists are also investigating the causes of type 1 diabetes. It is an autoimmune disorder in which the body mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-making beta cells of the pancreas.

Risk factors for type 1 diabetes include family history, genetics and race and ethnicity (white race, especially of Northern European heritage). Other possible contributors to type 1 diabetes include:

• Viruses
• Chemical and environmental factors
• Diet

Potential causes of secondary diabetes in children can include other endocrine disorders, celiac disease (gluten intolerance), some pancreatic conditions, inherited neuromuscular diseases, insulin resistance syndromes, chromosomal disorders and blood disorders.

Genetics is the major factor in maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) and Wolfram syndrome.