 The alternative thus is earlier intervention, in childhood, adolescence or early adulthood. The problem is to identify individuals at high risk of becoming diabetic at a time when they are presenting no simple clinical or laboratory abnormalities allowing easy diagnosis. The familial character of type 2 diabetes is now well established, and future diabetic subjects are themselves above all the children of diabetic subjects. However, the prevalence of the disease among the descendants of type 2 diabetic subjects is around 20-30 and predictive tools are needed to combat diabetes in these high-risk families. 