<qa>  What is the alternative to early intervention?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. 