Obesity has been a growing problem for the United States, the UK, for Australia, and now it looks like obesity levels are on the rise in China as well. I hate to say it out loud, but it seems obesity
is becoming a global epidemic.
One quarter of the adult population in China is overweight because dietary habits have shifted. People are eating more meat and dairy products than they used to. The classical Chinese diet that was rich in veggies, carbs, and minimal animal products, no longer exists. Lifestyles are also changing, and Chinese people aren't required to do as much physical activity at their jobs. Poor diet and inactivity are a deadly combo for China and for any country for that matter. Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina says:
"What's happening in China should be seen as a marker for what is going to hit the rest of the developing world if we fail to act. We need to find the right investments and regulations to encourage people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, or we risk facing higher rates of death, disease, and disability, and the related costs."
Along with obesity, the rates of cancer and coronary heart disease are also on the rise. Hopefully people all over the world will see this as a red flag and it'll encourage them to eat a healthy diet and exercise more.
Sloggi
Kookai
Emilio Pucci
They're now very much open to Western developments, and the picture you posted just reminds me of fast food! The first time I went to China, I remember my Dad telling me that he's noticed there's not a single "healthy" (ones on the chubby side) Chinese in sight, we tried to look for one but couldn't find any. I guess they pretty much had a really healthy diet then.
1How sad.
2When will people learn: everything in moderation? Interestingly, I am currently visiting Hong Kong, and I have never seen so many underweight people in one place. The pressures to stay thin here are verging on oppressive. What's with the crazy extremities?
3They are just eating more in general, especially wheat (presumably refined). The people who are most obese are actually eating *more* vegetables than those who are not.
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/obesity/another-china-study/
The full chart of the results found in the most recent study can be found there.
4I'm very skeptical of that study. People who eat more food get fat, which means they are likely to eat more vegetables too, right? I mean, you have more money so you buy more of what you ate before in addition to pricier items (like meat). Meat consumption has dramatically increased recently--how does that not affect the obesity rate? It's ludicrous to blame vegetables on obesity when consumption of everything has increased. McDonalds & KFC on every corner in China doesn't help.
I gained several pounds when I lived in China but it wasn't because I was eating meat (I'm a vegetarian). One reason was because my I started eating oil. I never cooked my vegetables in oil in the states, but that's how they do it there. Second, I ate a lot of "comfort" food in the form of ice cream. The only time in my life I've ever consistently eaten at McDonalds was when I lived in China and ate McFlurries.
I feel so sorry for the fat Chinese. It was extremely difficult to be fat in that country (and I was a size 4/6 then, so not skinny, but definitely not obese). I was always told how fat I was or that I couldn't shop in a certain store because they didn't sell clothes for fat people. yeah, it sucked. I lost a lot of weight after I came back to the States & then went back to visit just to show my ex-co-workers & students that I wasn't just your stereotypical fat american.
5In other words, they're becoming more American.
6They're also becoming less active than they used to be as well. More and more families there are able to buy cars instead of biking everywhere. We had family friends that had immigrated here from Taiwan and they used to bike everywhere there. Also, the food is getting cheaper and they have greater access to American food (aka, processed crap), so it's not really surprising that they're getting fatter.
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