KATHMANDU, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- An estimated 450,000 people in Nepal are currently suffering from diabetes but many of them do not know that they have acquired it, local media reported Sunday.

    The number is likely to reach 1.3 million by 2030 if no intervention was made, experts warned.

    "Diabetes has become a common problem in urban areas. The current trend suggests that at least 25 percent of the people above 20 years old are showing signs of diabetes," local Newspaper cited O. K. Malla, a senior doctor as saying.

    He was speaking at an interaction program organised in the capital to mark the World Diabetes Day.

    Hari Har Khanal, a senior physician and cardiologist, urged all the people to perform regular physical exercise and maintain an ideal body weight in order to control diabetes.

    "Modifying one lifestyle and quitting smoking as well as alcohol habit really pays off," he said.