On 29 September 2026, the health news service HealthDay reported a striking figure: among people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before the age of 20, more than 14% also had an ADHD diagnosis, roughly twice the rate seen in people of the same age without diabetes. The finding comes from a large analysis presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy. It is worth knowing about, and worth reading carefully.
Who Did the Study, and How
The work was led by Dr Jonathan Goldney of the University of Leicester Diabetes Research Centre and the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre in the UK. The team used TriNetX, a US network of anonymised electronic health records. They identified 4.2 million people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between March 2006 and March 2026 and compared them with people without diabetes, matched for year of birth, sex, ethnicity and race. The main comparison covered about 3.4 million matched pairs under the age of 80, grouped in 10-year age bands.
The researchers looked at four neurodivergent conditions recorded in the files: ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia.
What They Found
- ADHD: among people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before age 20, 14.4% had an ADHD diagnosis, versus 6.9% of matched peers without diabetes.
- Autism: 5.72% versus 1.79% in the same age group, a little over three times higher.
- Dyslexia and dyspraxia: also more frequent in people with type 2 diabetes, up to about twice as common, without a clear age pattern.
- The gap shrinks with age: among people diagnosed with diabetes at 70 to 79, ADHD was recorded in 0.25% versus 0.18%.
So the strongest signal is in early-onset type 2 diabetes, the form that appears in teenagers and young adults. In older age groups, both ADHD and autism are rarely recorded at all, and the difference becomes small.
Conference Data, Not Yet a Published Paper
These results were presented at a scientific meeting. As far as we could find, they have not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, which means the full methods and analyses have not been independently checked. Conference findings are generally considered preliminary until that happens.
The authors themselves point out important limits:
- It is an observational study. It shows that two conditions often go together, not that one causes the other, and it does not tell us which came first.
- It relies on anonymised hospital records, which can contain coding errors, and it only includes people who attended hospital, so it may not represent the whole population.
- People with ADHD or autism may see health professionals more often, which also means more chances of being tested and diagnosed with diabetes.
- Factors that were not measured may explain part of the link.
The data also come from the United States, so the exact percentages may not transfer directly to other countries, where diagnosis rates and access to care differ.
Why Might ADHD and Diabetes Go Together?
The study was not designed to answer this question, but the research team mentions several possible contributors: lower levels of physical activity, sleep difficulties, medication use, other mental health conditions and barriers to accessing healthcare. Factors very early in life may also be involved: diabetes during pregnancy, a common medical condition, has been linked in earlier research both to neurodevelopmental outcomes and to later cardiometabolic risk in children.
Earlier peer-reviewed research points in a similar direction, with useful nuances:
- A 2016 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Psychiatry (42 studies, more than 728,000 people) found obesity about 70% more common in adults with ADHD and about 40% more common in children with ADHD. The authors suggested that impulsivity and inattention may increase food intake. People taking ADHD medication were not at higher risk of obesity.
- A 2023 study in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews combined a meta-analysis of four studies (5.7 million participants) with Swedish national registers. People with ADHD had more than twice the risk of type 2 diabetes. But in the Swedish data, the link was largely explained by other conditions, mainly substance use disorders, depression and anxiety.
That second finding matters. It suggests that ADHD on its own may not be the main driver, and that what often comes with it (mental health difficulties, substance use, daily routines, access to care) counts a lot. The Swedish authors concluded that identifying and treating these other conditions early might greatly reduce diabetes risk, while noting that more evidence is needed.
What This Means for You
These figures describe groups, not individuals. Having ADHD does not mean you will develop diabetes. But the study is a reminder that ADHD is not only about attention: it can shape sleep, eating and activity, the everyday rhythms that also matter for metabolic health.
- Sleep: sleep difficulties are common with ADHD and were among the factors named by the researchers. Protecting regular sleep is worthwhile in its own right.
- Regular meals: when attention is elsewhere, meals can become irregular or impulsive. Simple structure, such as reminders or planned meal times, helps some people.
- Movement: lower physical activity was another factor mentioned. Activity you actually enjoy is the easiest kind to keep.
- Tell your doctor: if you have ADHD, or think you might, mention it at check-ups, along with any medication you take. The study authors argue that services for young people with type 2 diabetes should take neurodiversity into account, and your doctor can only do that if they know.
None of this replaces medical advice. If you have questions about your blood sugar, weight or energy levels, the right step is to talk to a doctor.
If you wonder whether ADHD might be part of your own story, the free ASRS-v1.1 adult ADHD screener (18 questions, about 10 minutes) is a useful first step. And since sleep is part of the picture, our sleep quality test can help you describe your nights more precisely. Screening tests are not a diagnosis, but they can help you start the conversation.
Source: Goldney J (lead author), University of Leicester Diabetes Research Centre, UK. Prevalence of neurodiversity in people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Presented at the EASD Annual Meeting, Milan, 28 September to 2 October 2026 (conference presentation, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal). Observational study of TriNetX US electronic health records: 4.2 million people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (2006-2026) compared with matched people without diabetes. Reported by HealthDay, 29 September 2026. Background: Cortese S et al. American Journal of Psychiatry 173(1):34-43 (2016), DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15020266 (meta-analysis, 42 studies, 728,136 people). Garcia-Argibay M et al. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 147:105076 (2023), DOI 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105076 (meta-analysis and Swedish register sibling study).