Early-Onset Type 2 Diabetes More Likely In People With ADHD, Autism

TUESDAY, Sept. 29, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at a young age is much more likely in people who have autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), new research says.

More than 14% of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before the age of 20 had an ADHD diagnosis, compared to close to 7% of people of similar age without diabetes. That's more than double the number, findings being presented at a conference in Italy this week show. 

As for autism, 5.7% of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before the age of 20 also had the neurodivergent condition, the study found.

Type 2 diabetes is a common blood sugar illness. Often tied to obesity, it occurs when the body loses the ability to use insulin properly or make enough of it, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

The association between neurodivergence and type 2 diabetes could have many factors, such as sleep disturbances, medication use, mental health conditions, barriers to accessing healthcare and lower levels of physical activity, researchers said. 

“Our findings by no means suggest that most people with a neurodivergent condition will go on to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D),” said lead author Jonathan Goldney, a fellow at the University of Leicester Diabetes Research Center in the U.K. 

“However, the higher prevalence of neurodiversity among people diagnosed with T2D earlier in life should be considered when planning services for people with early-onset T2D," he added in a news release. "Taking neurodiversity into account could help reduce potential barriers to accessing and engaging with healthcare.”

The findings are being presented in Milan at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

In the study, Goldney's team pored through the medical records of 4.2 million individuals in the United States who'd been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at some point over the past 20 years.

About 3.4 million of them were matched with a person of similar age from a group of 17.1 million people who'd never been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Regardless of age, autism and ADHD were more prevalent among people who had type 2 diabetes, the study found, although rates of neurodivergence declined sharply with advanced age.

Rates of dyslexia were also higher among people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, although age of diabetes onset didn't seem to matter in that case, the researchers said.

Goldney said meeting the healthcare needs of individuals hit by both diabetes and autism/ADHD is a necessary challenge.

"Providing healthcare for type 2 diabetes in a suitable way for neurodivergent individuals is critical to making healthcare more accessible for everyone, particularly as more people are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes earlier in life," he said.

The findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

Find out more about the diagnosis and care of type 2 diabetes at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCE: University of Leicester, news release, Sept. 26, 2026