Some 45,000 people have been diagnosed with diabetes in Brunei and experts have urged the public in the sultanate to change their eating habits and learn the importance of exercise, according to Brunei newspapers on Monday.
Another 45,000, or 12 percent of the country's total population, have also been found to be impaired glucose tolerant, or pre- diabetes.
Diabetes, an epidemic now labeled by the World Health Organization, is a very serious problem in urban countries, not only in Brunei but also in Malaysia and Singapore, Bruneian experts told a forum held in Brunei on Sunday.
People living in these urban areas are constantly in air- conditioned environments, eating their hearts out while lacking exercise, they said.
The health experts advised people not to eat late and encourage people to eat five or six hours before they sleep.
They also stressed the importance of exercising and having a proper diet, Xinhua reported.