Why?

Sheila thinks the foods she eats gives her diabetes.  Ron thinks it's genetic, occurring only in certain families.  Both are partly right and wrong.  Type II Diabetes is a very different disease from Juvenile Diabetes or Type I Diabetes.  Juvenile Diabetes and Type I Diabetes are illnesses of the pancreas.  The pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to keep blood glucose within normal range.  In some cases, the pancreas has shut down completely, producing zero insulin.  People with Type II Diabetes eventually wear out their pancreas, causing a shut down in insulin production, making the person insulin dependent.

How does someone get Type II Diabetes?  T2D is a disease of insulin resistance.  Genetics plays a big role.  When both parents have T2D, their children will develop it.   Body fat increases insulin resistance in everyone.  Yes, everyone.  An overweight person with T2D in the family will develop T2D early in life.  A lean person with T2D in the family will develop it later.  Obesity, all alone, is a big risk factor for T2D.