Researchers at the Cincinnati Children’sHospital Medical Center found that parental history of diabetes, as well as the presence of metabolic syndrome in childhood were major predictors of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. The finding was particularly true for black American men and women, the researchers report.

People with metabolic syndrome have at least three of the following health issues: high blood pressure; high triglycerides; high body mass; high blood glucose; and low levels of “good” high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.