Can you get type 2 diabetes at any age?

Diabetes is almost always a chronic condition of high blood glucose levels.^1,2 It is due to low or no levels of insulin, insulin resistance, or both. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease of high blood glucose due to insulin resistance leading and insufficient insulin production.^2-5

It is estimated that 34.2 million adult Americans (6.7 out of every 1000 people) have diabetes of which 90% to 95% of diagnosed cases are T2DM.⁶ Out of that 34 million, it is estimated that about 7.3 million adults are undiagnosed and likely have T2DM. About 1.4 million out of the 34 million have type 1 diabetes. About 1.5 million adults are newly diagnosed with diabetes every year with the majority being 45 years or older. It is estimated that the number of people aged 10 to 19 years diagnosed every year in the US with type 2 diabetes is 5,758. The incidence is increasing significantly every year in this age group.

^References

1. Vijan S. Type 2 diabetes. Ann Intern Med 2019; 171 (9): Itc65-itc80.
2. 2. Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2021. Diabetes Care 2021; 44 (Supplement 1): S15-S33.
3. Beck-Nielsen H, Groop LC. Metabolic and genetic characterization of prediabetic states. Sequence of events leading to non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Clin Invest 1994; 94 (5): 1714-1721.
4. Kahn CR. Banting Lecture. Insulin action, diabetogenes, and the cause of type II diabetes. Diabetes 1994; 43 (8): 1066-1084.
5. Robertson RP. Antagonist: diabetes and insulin resistance--philosophy, science, and the multiplier hypothesis. J Lab Clin Med 1995; 125 (5): 560-564; discussion 565.
6. National Diabetes Statistics Report. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services; 2020.