Chinese getting richer, and fatter

Obesity problem hits China after years of economic success:

Report: 60 million Chinese are obese

Beijing — Rising affluence has made about 60 million Chinese — equal to the population of France — obese, state media reported on Monday.

Xinhua News Agency quoted Pan Beilei, a deputy director with the government-affiliated State Food and Nutrition Consultant Committee, as saying that worsening diets had led to health problems, including obesity.

"An increasing number of Chinese are eating more fat and junk food but less grains and vegetables, leading to a high number of cases of high blood pressure and diabetes," Mr. Pan was quoted as telling a conference on food consumption and health in Beijing.

Mr. Pan said a widening wealth gap meant that the increase in the number of obese people came as 24 million people in China still live in abject poverty and suffer malnutrition. There was no specific definition of obesity offered; under current U.S. government standards, a body mass index, or weight-to-height measurement, of 25 or higher is overweight; 30 and above is obese.

Narrowing the regional income gap will help improve the diet of people in poverty-stricken areas, Mr. Pan said.

Because of the poor eating habits, according to Ministry of Health statistics, last year 160 million Chinese had high blood pressure — out of a total population of about 1.3 billion — up from 90 million in 1991, and 20 million had diabetes.

On the other hand, Canadians see slower rate of becoming overweight.

Hopeful signs for Canadians' waistlines

Canadian adults continue to get fatter, but they appear to be packing on the pounds at a much slower rate, according to new figures from Statistics Canada.

The Statscan report issued Monday breaks down average weight gain for Canadian adults into two-year intervals from 1996 to 2005.

During the period studied, the average self-reported weight gain peaked between 2001 and 2003, when it hit 1.1 kg for men and 1 kg for women.

However, in the latest interval ending in 2005, while waistlines continued to expand, the average amount gained was significantly lower at 0.7 kg for men and 0.6 kg for women.

"Thus, overall adults were still gaining weight, but statistically significantly less than in the earlier periods," the report said.

Men aged 18 to 33 served as the exception, where the average weight gain for the age group actually increased in the latest interval.

In fact, gender, age, and obesity rates were significantly associated with the rate at which Canadians put on weight.

Up until the latest interval, almost half of all adults reported that they had gained weight from the previous period. However, between 2003 and 2005 the proportion of men gaining weight fell to 44 per cent.

Tags: china, chinese, obesity, obese, fat, health, canada