Attention, students: You are susceptible to diabetes, a disease that may change your life forever.

Physical inactivity, overeating, poor nutrition and genetics are all variables that can add to your risk of getting the disease.

There are two main strands of diabetes, known simply as type 1 and type 2, but they are better characterized by their common names: juvenile diabetes and adult-onset diabetes.

A third, and fairly uncommon, form of the disease is gestational diabetes, which affects pregnant women. According to the American Diabetes Association’s Web site, www.diabetes.org, about 4 percent of all pregnant women in the United States – about 135,000 each year – are diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

Individuals who have juvenile diabetes must administer shots of insulin on a daily basis, whereas the adult-onset strain is often treated with increased exercise and changes in diet.

Sarah Haveman, registered and licensed dietitian at Mary Greeley Medical Center, 1111 Duff Ave., said college students are at risk of developing adult-onset diabetes because of a lack of proper nutrition and limited physical activity.

“I would definitely attribute it to our lifestyle change, in that people are eating much larger portions and eating a lot more than we ever used to,” Haveman said. “Sitting around a whole lot more, as well, with the jobs that we do and being in class all day.”

The biggest aspects of nutrition Haveman said students struggle with are portion control and binge drinking.

Haveman said that, too often, students and consumers in general become accustomed to the enormous portions provided by fast food venues and other restaurants.

“Portion control is the biggest issue,” Haveman said. “You used to be able to get an 8-ounce soda at a fast food restaurant, but now with all these value meals the smallest size is a 12- or 16-ounce drink.”

That statement may lead you to believe that preparing your own meals and avoiding high-volume restaurants is your best bet – which is true, but eating habits don’t check themselves at the door.

“Since we’re eating out so often, those are the portion sizes that we’re used to looking at and seeing. So, even when we prepare food at home, the portions we are serving are too large,” Haveman said. “As a student, if you’re having a lot of your food prepared for you, you need to make wiser food decisions.”

Haveman also said that, along with proper nutrition, exercise is a key facet of staying healthy and preventing vulnerability to diabetes. While it may be difficult to find time during the day to get a good sweat going, Haveman said that any type of physical activity is enough – even if it’s just 10 minutes of walking.

Diabetes is a disorder that interferes with the body’s ability to produce insulin and process sugar. Although that may not sound scary, diabetes can also lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, nerve damage and gum disease.

Dr. Rebecca Fritzsche, staff physician at Thielen Student Health Center, said people can get very sick very quickly because of the nature of the disease.

“It’s hard because the results from having your blood sugar too high or too low are both life-threatening,” Fritzsche said. “The leading cause of blindness and kidney failure in this country are from diabetes. Diabetics also have increased risk when it comes to heart attack and stroke.”

Fritzsche agreed with Haveman in regard to exercise and nutrition. She said poor nutrition and a lack of exercise would lead to obesity, which is the top reason individuals are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

“Exercise has shown to slow down the onset of type 2 diabetes in genetically predisposed individuals,” Fritzsche said. “Not gaining weight, 30 minutes of exercise every day and spreading your calories out throughout the day are all important. Especially in students, too many calories are taken in one or two sittings instead of consuming small meals throughout the day.”

Some of the symptoms indicating you may be at risk for diabetes are frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability and blurry vision.

Have you been eating out a lot? Starting to gain a little weight since you’ve gotten to college? Lacking motivation or time to get to the gym?

It’s time to ditch the excuses; diabetes doesn’t care who you are. If you leave yourself susceptible, you could be its next victim.