Adriëtte Oostvogels

134 Chapter 5 Conclusions This study aimed to investigate whether children with a family history of diabetes (FHD) in second-degree relatives are at increased risk of developing obesity and diabetes and whether the risk differs between transmission through respectively the maternal or paternal line. We found no differences in body composition or glucose metabolism between children with either maternal or paternal FHD, but children with both maternal and paternal FHD had increased C-peptide levels compared to children with no, or either maternal or paternal second-degree FHD. This might be the result of a double burden of a shared obesogenic lifestyle, but based on our analyses in the Dutch children with comparable lifestyle in all FHD groups, it seems more likely that children with both maternal and paternal FHD possibly have more diverse diabetogenic genes compared to children without FHD or with only one parental FHD line. Our results from a general population show that family history of diabetes in second-degree relatives might be used as a public health tool to identify children at a young age that already have increased insulin production, increasing their risk of developing diabetes later in life.