Diabetes runs in my family. What should I keep track of?

What to record about family history, which health markers to track, and why screening timing matters.

30 July 2026 · 5 min read

If a parent, brother or sister has type 2 diabetes, your own risk is higher, although many people with a family history never develop it. Family history is one piece of the picture; the rest comes from weight, activity, diet and sleep, which you can change.

To stay ahead of the risk, keep a record of both your family history and your own numbers. On the family side, note which relatives have diabetes and how old they were when it was found. On your own side, track your fasting blood glucose or HbA1c, your weight and waist size, and your blood pressure. The combination tells you where you stand, and how it is changing.

Which type of diabetes runs in families, type 1 or type 2?

Type 2 diabetes is the type that runs most clearly in families, and it is partly hereditary. Type 1 diabetes also involves genes, but it is an autoimmune condition: the immune system destroys the insulin-making cells in the pancreas, usually in childhood or young adulthood.

Type 2 diabetes risk is shaped by many genes, each with a small effect, and they can come from either parent. Families also share meals, habits and often body shape, so part of what looks like inherited risk is shared lifestyle.

When several relatives developed diabetes young — often before 30 and without being overweight — a doctor may consider monogenic diabetes (MODY), a rare form caused by a change in a single gene. Mention it at your next check-up if that sounds like your family.

How much does family history raise my diabetes risk?

Having a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes roughly doubles your own risk, with a study of adults in Singapore finding a similar effect.

The risk is higher when both parents have diabetes or when a parent was diagnosed young. It is also compounded by other factors — being Asian, carrying extra weight (especially around the abdomen) and inactivity each add to the baseline. A family history makes diabetes more likely without making it certain, and it gives you good reason to start testing earlier and more often than someone without that history.

Why are Asians at higher risk at a lower body weight?

Asian people tend to develop type 2 diabetes at a lower body weight than people of European descent, so Singapore uses a lower body mass index (BMI) cut-off. For Asians, a BMI of 23 or more is considered to carry increased risk, below the overweight cut-off used in many other countries.

Part of the reason is where the body stores fat. Research in South Asian adults, for example, finds less muscle and more fat stored in the liver, even at a lower BMI, and the body then responds less well to insulin. Singapore's clinical guidelines on obesity use a waist of 90 cm or more for men and 80 cm or more for women to mark abdominal obesity in Asians. If diabetes runs in your family, measure your waist as well as your weight.

What should I track if diabetes runs in my family?

Track two things: the details of diabetes in your family, and your own results over time.

Start by finding out:

• Which relatives have diabetes: parents, siblings or children (first-degree relatives), or more distant ones
• Which type of diabetes they have, if they know
• How old they were when it was diagnosed
• Related conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, stroke or diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)

Then keep a record of your own:

• Fasting blood glucose or HbA1c (a blood test that reflects your average blood sugar over about 3 months)
• Weight and waist size
• Blood pressure and cholesterol

A fasting glucose that creeps up each year can stay in the normal range for some time, so the trend matters as much as the latest number. A family history is one of the risk factors for which Singapore's screening guidance says testing can be considered at any age, and the blood sugar screening guide sets out how often.

Genie's Family history feature records which conditions run in your family, which relatives have them, and their age at onset. Combined with the lab reports in your Health Locker and activity and sleep data from a connected wearable, Genie reads your health data through the lens of your family history, so its insights and answers are shaped by your personal risk profile. A borderline HbA1c reading in someone with a strong family history of type 2 diabetes, for example, gets flagged more actively than the same result in someone without that background. You can also put questions to Ask Genie, such as "Given my family history, which of my markers should I pay closest attention to?"

How can I prevent diabetes if it runs in my family?

The same lifestyle changes that lower diabetes risk for everyone work when diabetes runs in your family — a strong message because inherited risk feels fixed in a way that lifestyle risk does not. In the US Diabetes Prevention Program, a large trial of adults at high risk, a lifestyle programme lowered the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by more than half over about 3 years.

The main changes are reaching a healthy weight, staying active on most days, cutting back on sugary drinks and refined carbohydrates such as white rice, and sleeping well. Where a family history makes the difference is in timing and vigilance: start testing earlier, repeat it more often, and keep the changes going even when results look fine. The guide to lowering blood sugar covers each change in detail, and if a test has already shown prediabetes, it can often be reversed.

Note: This content is for general informational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It does not replace consultation with a qualified healthcare professional. If you have concerns about your health, please consult a qualified physician.

Read Next: Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Blood Sugar: How Do They Fit Together?

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