When most people think of diabetes, they usually think of young kids with Juvenile or Type I diabetes or they think of older, overweight adults with Type II diabetes.

Pediatrician Eric Jones explains that there are two types of diabetes, type I and type II. Type I, also known as juvenile diabetes, is the body doesn't produce any insulin. "Type II diabetes is more insulin resistant, so your body makes insulin but it just doesn't know how to use it, so your body is unable to process the sugars. The type II diabetics are usually, it used to be called adult onset, but it's not anymore."

Diabetic Educator Jeanne Struve says that it's not called adult onset anymore because more children are getting it as childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic in our country and obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for type II diabetes. "When you see children with diabetes who are 6 years old and it's type 2 diabetes, to me that is so scary because what is their quality of life going to be when they're 50 or 60 when you're starting off at that age with type 2 diabetes?"

Dr. Jones says that it's often very difficult to diagnose type II diabetes in children that's because the symptoms can be so mild and a blood test is needed to confirm it. The best thing to do is to watch for certain types of behavior. "They're going to the bathroom a lot and they're drinking because they're extra thirsty, it's you're sugars are so high, they're just through the roof that it starts to effect your mental status."

But before it gets to the point remember that type II diabetes is mainly a lifestyle disease so we need to do our part and help our children eat right and stay active.

Other risk factors for Type II diabetes in children include a family history of the disease and non-Caucasian ancestry.