• Being overweight -- A body-mass index of 30 or above vastly increases your risk of diabetes, but even being moderately overweight (BMI over 25) -- particularly in the belly area -- is a risk factor.
• Having "pre-diabetes," which means having higher blood sugar than normal.
• Being insulin resistant -- This is usually determined when doctors diagnose other conditions, such as metabolic syndrome. (Metabolic syndrome is the medical term for having several cardiovascular risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and excess weight around the waist.)
• Being sedentary -- Even moderate activity reduces the risk of diabetes by helping regulate insulin.
• Having a family history of diabetes -- A first-generation relative (parent, sibling, or child) with diabetes increases your risk; this unfortunately is one risk factor you can't control.
• Being of Hispanic, African-American, or American Indian descent - obviously you can't prevent or change this one either.
• For women, having had a baby over nine pounds at birth, or having been diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
