Unrealistic Optimism, Sex, and Risk Perception of Type 2 Diabetes Onset: Implications for Education Programs

Reyes-Velázquez, Wanda; Sealey-Potts, Claudia

A total of 660 students participated in the study. Students who indicated they had diabetes were excluded from the dataset (n = 8). Demographic characteristics of all respondents are shown in Table 1 . The mean BMI of participants was 24.77 ± 5.96 kg/m 2 . More than half (55.9%) of the participants had a body weight within the normal range (18.5-24.9 kg/m 2 ), whereas 4.5% were classified as underweight (<18.5 kg/m 2 ), 24.8% as overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m 2 ), 9.2% as obese class 1 (30-34.9 kg/m 2 ), 2.6% as obese class 2 (35-39.9 kg/m 2 ), and 3.0% as in an extreme weight category (>40 kg/m 2 ) (27). Less than one-fourth (21.5%) of the participants reported having a blood relative with diabetes in their nuclear family, whereas more than half (57.9%) indicated that they had a blood relative with diabetes in their extended family. Eleven of the participants had been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes (type 1 diabetes n = 1, type 2 diabetes n = 2, gestational diabetes n = 5, and prediabetes n = 3).