China Faces Rising Obesity Levels
Globesity... The term really resonated with me the first time I heard it. In the past few years, there has been a focus on previously lean nations getting heavy at an alarming rate. China is a particular concern, due to its large population and its recent economic boom - skyrocketing the number of overweight/obese residents to 30% (CDC China). Things are on pace to get pretty bad.
The government appears to be aware of the problem, but their efforts seem to be no match for prosperity and the overindulgence that accompanies it. Here are some quotes from some obesity experts on the situation:
If you tell people not to eat hamburgers or other high-calorie foods, they say, 'I've got money now, I'll eat what I want."Chen Chunming, Centers for Disease Control, China
No country has been able to stop things from getting worse. The causes of obesity are the same in China as in the USA. You have an environment where there are many foodstuffs available and no need for physical activity"James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
The Chinese government is not taking this crisis as seriously as (it) should be... They have not thought through how debilitating the huge proportion of people with diabetes and hypertension will be on the next generation...6 million to 10 million adult Chinese become obese each year. China must start prevention now, or fall into the same trap as the U.S. and Europe -- spending on drugs to treat, instead of prevent, obesity".Barry M. Popkin, professor of nutrition and director of the Obesity Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Is Acupuncture part of the solution?
With growing waistlines comes a growing demand for solutions. Enter weight loss clinics, which have been sprouting all over China. American Alonzo Bland won a year at China's top weight-loss center, the Amin (Love the People) Fat Reduction Hospital - where the protocol includes acupuncture.
Conventional weight loss experts, including James Hill are skeptical of acupuncture being effective for weight loss.
No Easy Answers
As James Hill says, the cause here is no different than it is in north America and hence the solution isn't any different. The problem is that it will take a massive cultural shift and some powerful awareness campaigns to evoke meaningful change.
How do you think China can reverse course?
Are there cultural differences that would make it either easier or more difficult for the Chinese compared to North Americans?
What do you think about acupuncture for weight loss?
Source: USA Today
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From my point of view as a Chinese-American, reversing the emerging obesity trend in China is going to be difficult because of the dichotomous connotations the Chinese associate with weight.
On one hand, being rotund is a sign of wealth, health, prosperity, and luck. This stems, of course, from centuries riddled with famine and hard labor when food was scarce. Immigrants to America from mainland China are often praised and complimented for any weight gain they achieve in the States when they go back home.
On the other hand, there is also a strong stigma against obese or even chubby people, especially women. Fat people are seen as lazy, gluttonous, and unattractive.
These two opposing viewpoints, neither of which makes total scientific sense, need to be addressed and reconciled before China stops getting fatter.
ReplyWell it's also interesting because in South Africa we have large population groups that were once living in rural areas who used to walk long distances to fetch water, and who spend many hours doing manual labour. then they moved to urban centers where they can take taxi's and their attitude is: 'why should we walk when we can take taxi's?" Walking they saw as a sign of poverty, taking taxi's they see as a sign of wealth.
I remember being in Beiging in 1990 - there were over 7 million bicycles.... now I'll bet there are many more cars - sign of the same thing.... bicycles will be seen as part of when they were in poverty, cars will be seen as a sign of wealth - as will eating fast foods.
ReplyI think bijou makes a lot of good points, but I'd like to add something: Back in the day, Americans thought being a bit plump was a good thing as well. Farming families who didn't have a lot to eat were looked down on because they were skinny, while the upper class really encouraged plumpness. The whole problem with any culture that starts getting easy access to food is that pretty soon most people are fat and food access doesn't mean as much status-wise as technology, cars, houses, etc.
ReplyWow, and China is a country that tends to be into Herbs more. Global problem for sure!! Great blog!!
ReplyIsn't capitolism great? But seriously, it seems that the Chinese are now where America was a couple of decades ago. That is to say somewhere between the past, where someone didn't worry about weight because they didn't have a fast food joint selling them larger and larger portions and they had to do more physical activity because of fewer modern convieniences, and the present where there are a host of exercise equipment, packaged diet foods, and weightloss centers to deal with all the modern changes. The Chinese, just like us, will have to learn to hit the gym to offset all those car trips, and how to make fast food a carefully proportioned treat in a health based diet.
ReplyI vote Cesar Millan from the Dog Whisperer to save the world. Exercise = Discipline = Affection.
If we follow this path, we will fall into place, and resolve our issues. Exercise frees the mind allowing discipline to enter, which will lead to affection, otherwise known as a happy, healthy, human.
It works for dogs and their owners, it will work for the planet.
ReplyWhen we were in China in 1990 obesity was certainly something you never saw.... but there were 7 million bicycles in Beijing. We only found one MacDonalds. Now I bet you'll find more cars, more MacD's and fewer bicycles. Every morning you'd also see young people doing ballroom dancing and row upon row old people doing Tai Chi - and I'm talking middle of winter here. But as they become more Westernized, there'll be more TV to watch which should keep them safely indoors....and um following their Western counterparts!
ReplyA big problem is that fast food companies are infiltrating China.
Kentucky Fried Chicken is one if the fastest growing companies in China, and a lot of people just love the taste of fried chiken and buttermilk buscuits.
Reply30% of the residents in China are now obese/overweight? Not a good sign of things to come but still well below the averages of a lot of other countries ..
There's still about 18 or so countries that are "fatter". The states is overweight population in the states is actually just under 65%, U.K is at 61% .. next on the list is Australia at just under 60% .. Mexico is actually 2nd just behind the states ..
That's a great article though.
ReplyOh wow... I think if you were, um round and chubby, you were considered wealthy. This is some very scary news for me. I've always associated the Chinese, being one myself, as having petite, lean figures (something I want myself). But reading a statistic like that...
You can also find Custard Egg Tarts at Chinese KFCs. Just a fun fact (:
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