Tai Tong-yuan, who been researching diabetes for more than 30 years, points out that diabetes prevalence is closely related to the level of economic development, Westernization of diet, and urbanization. Highly urbanized areas such as Hong Kong and Singapore have prevalence rates of diabetes of around 7 to 8 %. Diabetes is also closely linked to hereditary factors.
研究糖尿病三十多年的戴東原指出，糖尿病的盛行率與經濟發展、飲食西化、都市化等有密切的相關性，像香港、新加坡等高度都市化的地方，盛行率便高達 7％∼ 8％左右。