Shanghai residents face a higher risk of contracting diabetes than any other group of people in China, a recent survey suggests.

About 1.2 million people in Shanghai, or 8.6 percent of the city's population, have diabetes, according to a survey of 12,000 local residents conducted by the Shanghai Public Health Bureau and Shanghai Disease Prevention and Control Center ahead of World Diabetes Day, which is today.

In 1980 only 1.01 percent of Shanghai's population was diagnosed with the disease. Currently 6.25 percent of China's population has some form of diabetes.

While the incidence rate in Shanghai is still below the figures in some Western countries, doctors warned that unhealthy diets and lifestyles could put a growing number of young people at risk of contracting the illness. 

According to a Chinese diabetes expert the disease is having a serious impact on young and middle-aged people. The average age of diabetics here is less than that of developed countries.

"Diabetes patients aged between 40 and 59 are increasing in China while diabetics are mostly aged between 60 to 69 in developed countries," said Guo Xiaohui, head of the Endocrinology Department in Peking University People's Hospital.

"Senility, family history, hypertension, high blood fats and obesity have become the five primary danger factors for diabetes," said Ning Guang, a professor at Ruijin Hospital. "More than 90 percent of diabetics in the city contract the disease due to unhealthy diet and lack of exercise."

About 10 percent of obese children in the city will possibly contract the disease if they don't control their diets, states the survey. Ning said a healthy diet and plenty of exercise were the best ways to avoid the disease.

"Healthy food means dishes that are low in sugar and have a good balance of protein, fat and dietary fiber," said Cao Weixin, a nutritionist at Ruijin Hospital.

China had 23.8 million diabetics aged between 20-79 in 2003 and is expected to have 46.1 million by 2025, according to a report by the International Diabetes Federation.

(Shanghai Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2006)