Obesity in China still a growing problem

A large study has found that 1 in 3 people are overweight and 1 in 7 are obese in the Jilin Province in Northeast China. Over recent years, China has been experiencing an increase in the rates of obesity within its population. The researchers of this paper wanted to examine a densely populated part of China in order to uncover influential factors that may be addressed in future health policy to protect people from obesity. The study included nearly 21,000 randomly selected adults in 2012.

They found many contributing factors, with the major one being the adoption of the ‘Western lifestyle’ across such a large population. The study also showed that regular intake of meat and alcohol, having been married and getting less than 7 hours sleep a night were all associated with a higher risk of developing obesity. The researchers were particularly worried about the rate at which obesity was growing and the subsequent increase in chronic diseases that will occur. They are hoping to increase awareness of this problem so that more effort is put into slowing these rates and preventing the development of obesity within China.