Henk Bekedam, WHO's Beijing representative, claimed on last
Wednesday that 23% of Chinese citizens are overweight, and the
government has had to implement effective measures aiming to keep
people slim.
On the speech made during a seminar on obesity in Beijing, Dr.
Bekedam also revealed that more than 33% of Chinese adults suffer
from hypertensions, more than 42 million people will suffer from
diabetes in 2030, and there are still 320 million smokers in
China.
He said that several factors make Chinese people overweight, like
unhealthy diet habit, high cholesterol taking and excessive
drinking and smoking. A survey shows that the mortality of
cardiovascular diseases aged between 35 to 64 is 22% in China,
compared to? 12% in the USA.
Bekeham said that Chinese people knew well about how to keep fit
in the past, but the globalization and urbanization are gradually
changing people's lifestyles. He further appealed to the Chinese
government to do more against obesity, lest the occurrence of
related diseases increase.
(Chinanews.cn November 28, 2006)
