China: Obesity ‘Explosion’ In Rural Youth-Study Warns
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Obesity has rapidly increased in young rural Chinese, a study has warned, because of socioeconomic changes.Researchers found 17% of boys and 9% of girls under the age of 19 were obese in 2014, up from 1% for each in 1985.
The 29-year study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, involved nearly 28,000 students in Shandong province.
The study used a stricter cut-off of the Body Mass Index (BMI) than the World Health Organization standard.
“It is the worst explosion of childhood and adolescent obesity that I have ever seen,” Joep Perk from the European Society of Cardiology told AFP news agency.
The study said China’s rapid socioeconomic and nutritional transition had led to an increase in energy intake and a decrease in physical activity.
The traditional Chinese diet had shifted towards a diet “with high fat, high energy density and low dietary fibre”.
Obesity is more prevalent in boys because they are likely to enjoy more of the family’s resources, the study says
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