A healthy diet and regular exercise can help prevent children from getting diabetes, the director of the Beijing diabetes prevention office said here Tuesday.

Yang Jinkui was speaking at a public awareness program on diabetes prevention sponsored by NovoNordisk China group, Beijing's diabetes prevention office and Beijing No.1 Normal School.

Type two diabetes is usually found among the elderly, but nowadays many young people are contracting the disease because of unhealthy lifestyles, Yang said.

Although diabetes can be inherited, unhealthy lifestyle and obesity are also important factors for children contracting the disease and they need to be encouraged to eat right and do exercise more.

With improving living standards many children prefer sweet food, fried food and fast food, Yang said.

Today's children also watch too much television or spend too time playing electronic games, thus causing them to put on extra pounds, Yang added.

The Ministry of Education reported in 2004 that almost 16 percent of urban children aged between 7 and 22 were considered obese.

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2005)