I might be wrong but I believe type 2 might be hereditary also. At least the traits in the body to be more suseptable to it through family genes and such. Everyone in my family has had it as far back as I can see and it is type 2, no type 1's. It is most likely avoidable even tho but the problem lies more in our old beliefs in what is good for you. We are now learning that sugar is not the real culprit as much as processed stuff like white flour and other white foods that the powers that be messed with to make it more pleasing to the eye and better for transport, (this food being a type of sugars that the body has to process before being digested as a food).
It is known that doctors check you if they know it is in your family. It is also known that if we were to have had better whole foods years ago that were not processed and bleached there would be less of us in the statistics as is now but we listened to the wrong people maybe. Even the canadian food guide was wrong as far as I am concerned and has been revamped to personalize with each person by weight, height and activity level and does not include the white products in the same spot as they used to be that was said everyone should eat daily. It is also a product of our sloppy lives we live now like shift work, extra shifts, long commutes and eating in a hurry to get somewhere, and stress, as well as many more things we could change.
Take care, go around the outer parimiter of the store for most of your groceries and look at tips to avoid sugar highs that diabetics use even tho you are not diabetic yet taking care not to over do it either. If you have a family member who is diabetic you should ask for a test on their blood meter (be careful if you do not to contaminate yourself or them) if you can, (This is soley my opinion tho and is not medical advise) Wish I had thought of that years ago, or better yet ask your doctor to keep checking you each year.
There are foods that help diabetics control their blood sugar and people with no signs yet should look at that too for a preventative, wish I knew that years ago too. Anyway my real message here is if you have family members who are then be vigilant in checking and if no family members are, then look at your daily diet to see if you should still be concerned.
It is a sneaky disease and comes on quietly and once there you have to keep a tight control. Even warned diabetics sometimes never get back to normal if they can't keep control.
"Warned diabetics" is a term used by some, also used is borderline diabetics which some don't like to call it anymore or prediabetic. These names are used for those showing a count of around 5 to 7, I believe. after you ride over 7 or 8 you are concidered diabetic I believe and oral medications are soon concidered.
The tricks for keeping blood sugar down BTW are whole foods that are usable to the body. Antioxidents, some vitamines, fruits and lots of veggies, soluble and non soluble fibres. There are many more being discovered like vinagar use, mustard, and the list goes on. If not a warned diabetic you should look at this type of list only as "better choices and find snacks that are safer and just try to stay away from white breads and other whitened products and foods that have trans fats. If we all made a slight food choice makeover we would find it easier to avoid diabetes. The kids are more at risk now and that is what is concerning everyone in the medical field, most likely due to the food choices at school more then anything else at this point.
Remember this is not medical advice of any kind, it is my opinion only from what I know now and wish I knew then when it might have helped me. I worked long shifts, night shifts and I let the world of prepared food get me where it counts all while knowing my family has a long string of the disease.