SINGAPORE - While Covid-19 has loomed large for two years now, another worrying health spectre is on the rise.

Type 2 diabetes - usually more common in people who are older than 40 - has been increasingly diagnosed among teenagers - thanks to sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets.

In a Straits Times report in June, Dr Nitish Mishra, an endocrinologist at Singapore Medical Group's Diabetes, Thyroid and Endocrine Clinic, said the condition has been found in more children aged 12 to 16 in the past decade, "which was almost unheard of last time".

Those who are overweight, do not exercise sufficiently and have other medical conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol are more at risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

KK Women's and Children's Hospital also saw an increase in young patients with the condition. It recorded an average of 24 paediatric patients newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a year from 2011 and 2015 - compared with an average of 15 patients from 2000 to 2005.

The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity caused by a sedentary lifestyle is a possible cause, noted Dr Khoo Chin Meng, head and senior consultant at National University Hospital's Division of Endocrinology.

What is also a cause for concern is that a local study released this year showed that people aged 18 to 34 tend to be less aware of diabetes and its symptoms.

The study - done by the Institute of Mental Health, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health - began in 2018 and involved 2,895 Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and above.

Diabetes can be prevented with a healthy diet including limiting sugar intake, exercising regularly and reducing alcohol intake. Those with a family history of Type 2 diabetes should also go for regular health screenings.