How do skinny people get diabetes

But they were twice as likely to die at any point than their heavier counterparts. Even after adjusting for other risk factors known to contribute to diabetes, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and smoking, the higher mortality rates remained. Further, to account for the possibility that the normal weight patients could have been losing weight due to other underlying illnesses, the researchers excluded people who died within two years of their diabetes diagnosis.

The doubling of early death risk persisted. But the scale gives a false sense of health. According to Mainous, skimping on exercise is so metabolically harmful because it leads to a higher proportion of body fat than lean muscle mass. He says people with very little lean muscle tend to have low grip strength — and past research has linked low grip strength to heightened risk of prediabetes and diabetes.

It uses a formula to estimate your body fat based on your height and weight. The resulting BMI number indicates where you are on a scale of underweight to obese. A healthy BMI is between Type 1 diabetes is commonly diagnosed in children. However, despite increasing rates of childhood obesity, research suggests weight is not a significant risk factor for this type of diabetes.

One study found that the rising cases of type 2 diabetes were related to increases in childhood obesity, but not type 1. Abbasi A, et al. Body-mass index and incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and young adults in the UK: an observational cohort study. DOI: doi. If you have type 2 diabetes, your pancreas has stopped producing enough insulin, your cells have become resistant to the insulin, or both.

More than 90 percent of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes. Diabetes quick facts. Weight is one factor that can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. An estimated National diabetes statistics report, However, weight is not the only factor. About People who might be considered thin or skinny can develop type 2 diabetes. A variety of factors may contribute:. Your family history , or your genetics, is one of the leading risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

If you have a parent with type 2 diabetes, your lifetime risk is 40 percent. If both parents have the condition, your risk is 70 percent. Prasad RB, et al. Genetics of type 2 diabetes—pitfalls and possibilities. DOI: Research shows people with type 2 diabetes who are of normal weight have more visceral fat. This is a type of fat that surrounds the abdominal organs.

It releases hormones that affect glucose and interfere with fat metabolism. Visceral fat can make the metabolic profile of a person of normal weight look like the profile of a person who is overweight, even if they appear thin. You can determine if you carry this type of weight in your belly. First, measure your waist in inches, then measure your hips. Divide your waist measurement by your hips measurement to get your waist-to-hip ratio. Although the person in B looks trim, she is centrally obese and may still be at risk of Type 2 diabetes.

BMI doesn't tell the whole story. To check your diabetes risk, measure your waist circumference in addition to your BMI. Related Articles Related Stories. Related Articles Related Stories More. I Quit Programme Stay smoke-free for 28 days and you're 5 times more likely to quit for good. Tips to Quit Smoking. Help Someone Quit Smoking.