Childhood obesity is ballooning into a big problem in China as 'little
emperors' are increasingly getting an appetite for the Western
couch-potato way of life, according to a study presented in Geneva.
Almost one in five children under seven is overweight and more than seven percent are obese, according to a study of the Chinese National Task Force on Childhood Obesity, presented at the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Health Organization.
Chinese experts looked at 80,000 children from 11 major cities,
and found an increase of 156 percent in the numbers of obese children
between 1996 and 2006. Meanwhile, the number of overweight children grew 52 %.
"When a poor person gets richer, the first thing he does is to get better food. That's a big driver of obesity,"
With large swathes of population in the country still poor and many increasingly getting richer, the problem would not reach its full-blown extent until the years to come.
The adoption of Western couch-potato style of life in the cities is the problem, as parents feed their children with fat and sweet food, according to the scientist.
Children are not only consuming sodas and ice cream, but also not doing enough exercise to work off the calories.
China “has entered the era of obesity,” according to Ji Chengye, a leading child-health researcher, who says that “the speed of growth is shocking.”
[ USA Today “Obesity of China's kids stuns officials” Jan. 9. 2007 ]
Urban Chinese boys age 6 are 2.5 inches taller and 6.6 pounds heavier on average than Chinese city boys 30 years ago, according to China’s Health Ministry. The Education Ministry reports that 8% of 10- to 12-year-olds in China’s cities are obese, with an additional 15% classified as overweight.
[ USA Today “Obesity of China's kids stuns officials” Jan. 9. 2007 ]
About 8.1% of Chinese children in urban areas are obese, compared to 3.1% in rural areas.
[ National Geographic News “Obesity Explosion May Weigh on China's Future” August 8, 2006 ]
China’s obesity rate is exploding—about 30 to 50 percent annually (or six million to 10 million more obese every year).
[ PBS Newshour “For China's Growing Middle Class, Expanding Waistlines Pose Problem” June 1, 2010 ]
About one in 10 adults in China have diabetes (representing about 90 million diabetics).
[ BBC News “China faces obesity explosion” Sept. 25, 2010 ]
China’s “obesity explosion” has resulted in growth of Chinese fat camps , which costs about a thousand U.S. dollars (U.S.) per child.
[ National Geographic News “Obesity Explosion May Weigh on China's Future” August 8, 2006 ]
Parents and school systems place academic results above sporting achievements. This is indicated in the little emphasis on sports, which takes up less than two hours of the school week.
The
one-child policy which has been implemented in the last 30 years
further complicates the issue in a country which considers being fat as a
sign of good health and prosperity.
A healthy baby, for example, is in the Chinese language described as a "fat baby".
"The one-child policy led parents to overprotect their children. The behavior of grandparents are of special concern they tend to overfeed their grandchildren because they think that being fat is a sign of the family's wealth," one professor said. The traditional preference for boys is also reflected in the statistics, which show that 22 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls are overweight.
The professor
sees about 20 young patients daily at the hospital where he practices in
Beijing, but he refuses to impose a diet on them. The problem is doctors were never trained in medical school to deal with obesity, this was not a disease it was condition. Now, it has become a disease.
It has also become the most expensive and the biggest killer because it can cause other problems.
Like US. China will also spend in Billions to treat obesity. US spends close to US$147 B in treating obesity and its related problems. By the end of the decade Obesity and Diabetes will be the biggest market for medical devices.
Private investors, VCs and companies are investing heavily in US based new technologies, mainly located in Boston or Irvine, California that can help cure obesity using medical devices or help reduce the incidence. Sobering thought is, if diet and exercise is started today, it will take 30 years to return to the normal levels. Let's solve the problem, at the grass root level, which is curbing complex food manufacturing, cheap foods and complex carbs are easily available which means obesity and diabetes is inevitable!
Reorganize the food chart and add proteins, veggies and less carbs to the food chart and add exercise to it!!
Almost one in five children under seven is overweight and more than seven percent are obese, according to a study of the Chinese National Task Force on Childhood Obesity, presented at the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Health Organization.
"When a poor person gets richer, the first thing he does is to get better food. That's a big driver of obesity,"
With large swathes of population in the country still poor and many increasingly getting richer, the problem would not reach its full-blown extent until the years to come.
The adoption of Western couch-potato style of life in the cities is the problem, as parents feed their children with fat and sweet food, according to the scientist.
Children are not only consuming sodas and ice cream, but also not doing enough exercise to work off the calories.
China “has entered the era of obesity,” according to Ji Chengye, a leading child-health researcher, who says that “the speed of growth is shocking.”
[ USA Today “Obesity of China's kids stuns officials” Jan. 9. 2007 ]
Urban Chinese boys age 6 are 2.5 inches taller and 6.6 pounds heavier on average than Chinese city boys 30 years ago, according to China’s Health Ministry. The Education Ministry reports that 8% of 10- to 12-year-olds in China’s cities are obese, with an additional 15% classified as overweight.
[ USA Today “Obesity of China's kids stuns officials” Jan. 9. 2007 ]
About 8.1% of Chinese children in urban areas are obese, compared to 3.1% in rural areas.
[ National Geographic News “Obesity Explosion May Weigh on China's Future” August 8, 2006 ]
China’s obesity rate is exploding—about 30 to 50 percent annually (or six million to 10 million more obese every year).
[ PBS Newshour “For China's Growing Middle Class, Expanding Waistlines Pose Problem” June 1, 2010 ]
About one in 10 adults in China have diabetes (representing about 90 million diabetics).
[ BBC News “China faces obesity explosion” Sept. 25, 2010 ]
China’s “obesity explosion” has resulted in growth of Chinese fat camps , which costs about a thousand U.S. dollars (U.S.) per child.
[ National Geographic News “Obesity Explosion May Weigh on China's Future” August 8, 2006 ]
Parents and school systems place academic results above sporting achievements. This is indicated in the little emphasis on sports, which takes up less than two hours of the school week.
The
one-child policy which has been implemented in the last 30 years
further complicates the issue in a country which considers being fat as a
sign of good health and prosperity.A healthy baby, for example, is in the Chinese language described as a "fat baby".
"The one-child policy led parents to overprotect their children. The behavior of grandparents are of special concern they tend to overfeed their grandchildren because they think that being fat is a sign of the family's wealth," one professor said. The traditional preference for boys is also reflected in the statistics, which show that 22 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls are overweight.
It has also become the most expensive and the biggest killer because it can cause other problems.
Private investors, VCs and companies are investing heavily in US based new technologies, mainly located in Boston or Irvine, California that can help cure obesity using medical devices or help reduce the incidence. Sobering thought is, if diet and exercise is started today, it will take 30 years to return to the normal levels. Let's solve the problem, at the grass root level, which is curbing complex food manufacturing, cheap foods and complex carbs are easily available which means obesity and diabetes is inevitable!
Reorganize the food chart and add proteins, veggies and less carbs to the food chart and add exercise to it!!
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