BEIJING - Lifestyle changes have led to increasing incidence of diabetes among China's rural population, a senior medical official warned Friday.

The incidence rate of diabetes among adults in China's rural areas has increased from 1.8 percent in 2002 to 8.4 percent in 2010, said Wang Linhong, a senior official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a seminar held in Beijing.

The incidence rate in the countryside increased faster than in cities, though the rate was still lower than that of cities, Wang said, adding that the rural population has become a priority in diabetes control and prevention.

The national incidence rate of diabetes among adults increased from 2.69 percent in 2002 to 9.7 percent in 2010, while the rates for 2011 and 2012 were not available, according to Wang.

With rapid urbanization over the past few decades, rural people's livelihood has improved quickly, while modern agriculture requires less physical labor.

Unhealthy diet and less exercise have caused obesity and higher blood lipid levels among the rural population, which could lead to diabetes, Wang said.

Additionally, rural people are much less aware of diabetes than their urban counterparts, he said.

Nationally, only 36.1 percent of diabetes patients were aware of their condition, and 34.7 percent used medication to control their condition, according to Wang.

"Diabetes has become a major challenge for China's public health and a main task of our programs to control chronic diseases," he said.

In 2012, the Chinese government launched a plan on the control and prevention of chronic diseases from 2012 to 2015, which included efforts to increase the awareness and medication of diabetes.