More than half of Chinese adults are now overweight: official

China’s rapid economic growth has profoundly changed eating habits, and Wednesday’s figures reveal that more than half of adults are overweight. Image: AFP / Hector Retamal

More than half of adults in China are now overweight, official figures showed Wednesday, and increasingly sedentary lifestyles among the country’s growing middle class translate into expanding waists.

China has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades that has profoundly changed eating habits – hugely popular online delivery apps make cheap, high-calorie meals available to city dwellers at all hours.

That growth now means that more than 50% of people are overweight for the first time, according to a report from the National Health Commission released Wednesday, of which 16.4 percent are considered obese.

That proportion is nearly double the 29% of adults classified as overweight or obese in 2002.

Many adults in China now “exercise too little, are under too much pressure and have unhealthy work hours,” Wang Dan, a nutritionist from the northeastern city of Harbin, told AFP.

Chinese children are also becoming increasingly overweight, the report revealed, with 20% of children ages 6 to 17 now heavier than the healthy limit compared to 16% in 2012.

Being overweight is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

The worst-affected country in Asia remains Malaysia, where around 65% are overweight or obese, according to the WHO in 2019.

Adult obesity is on the rise throughout the world, both in affluent regions and in areas where people cannot afford healthy diets of fruits, vegetables, and high-protein foods. IB

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