Growing up in an empty home long after her older sisters had flown the family nest, Freda Lau would spend hours after school devouring chocolates while watching TV or doing homework.

The binges did more than just up her weight to a hefty 60kg by the time she was 14. Being overweight also gave her Type 2 diabetes, a disease that has so far been common only in adults.

The 17-year-old is one of a rising number of children here and worldwide who have the condition.

KK Women's and Children's Hospital now sees one or two such cases a month, or about 10 to 15 a year, a tenfold rise from just one or two cases 10 years ago, said diabetes expert Warren Lee of its department of paediatric medicine.

Obesity and lack of exercise are behind more children coming down with Type 2 diabetes, said Associate Professor Loke Kah Yin of the National University Hospital.

Diabetes affects about one in 10 adults here, with most having Type 2. In Type 2 diabetes, the body suffers a deficiency of insulin, a chemical which is necessary for it to be able to use sugar.

In children, the disease, especially the Type 2 variety, was virtually unheard of until recently, but their lifestyles have changed.

Freda, whom Prof Loke treats, can blame it on her love of watching TV combined with a sweet tooth. 'Initially, I was in denial, but now I'm slowly coming to terms with my condition,' she said.

She expressed her 'conflicting emotions' in a painting that won her a prize in an art contest for diabetic children.

Most of the children Dr Lee and Prof Loke treat are overweight, if not obese. One 16-year-old patient weighed 160kg. Apart from obesity and sedentary lifestyles, a family history of diabetes can also contribute to the condition.

About one in five children of mothers with diabetes will have impaired glucose tolerance - commonly referred to as the pre-diabetic stage - by the time they are 20, said Dr Lee, who is the organising chairman for an international conference on paediatric and adolescent diabetes, which opens in Singapore today. One in three of them is likely to go on to develop full-blown diabetes.

Treatment of diabetes is largely centred on controlling glucose levels in the blood, mainly through oral medicines and insulin injections. But though treatment methods have improved, doctors say results are still far from ideal.

An international study - to be released later today - shows that blood glucose levels among six in 10 children with Type 2 diabetes in the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, are not 'optimally controlled'. Despite treatment, they may be at risk of developing diabetes-related complications, such as high blood pressure.

A patient in his 60s who gets diabetes will have only about 20 years to live with these complications, said Dr Manfred Ganz of Roche Diagnostics, a German pharmaceutical firm, who is here for the conference. But children have far longer lives to lead.