Did you know that there are more overweight people in the world than there are thin people with the consumption of fat more than doubling in China?
While 800 million still went to bed hungry every night, another 1.3 billion had a body mass index (BMI) that made them either overweight or obese.
Researchers have followed the lives of 16,000 people in China since 1989, watching how social and economic changes have affected their diet and health.
In China in 1989, there were no overweight people, now about 25% are overweight or obese. Similar patterns are appearing in most of Asia, most of urban Africa and the Middle East. China's changing diet is following a classical "Western" diet, for example, in the last 20 years, consumption of cereals have dropped considerably, while energy obtained by eating fat more than doubled.
China's lifestyle has become more sedentary with about 14% of homes acquiring a motor vehicle between 1989 and 1997 with 97% now having a television.
While obesity was afflicting both developed and developing countries, there were key differences. An explosion in the consumption of high calorie, sweetened beverages and fruit drinks has been blamed for much of the obesity in these countries; however, China's epidemic was powered by a spectacular growth in the consumption of animal foods, in particular, beef and pork.
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About the Author Jenny Gill is an international author with an immense range of knowledge and skills in a wide range of areas. Jenny is a mother and a grandmother and devotes a lot of her time supporting the aged in her community.
