BEIJING: Chinese people are growing taller as the country becomes richer but they are getting fatter even faster, the government and state media said.
The proportion of Chinese over-18s who were overweight stood at 30.1 percent in 2012, up 7.3 percentage points over a decade, Wang Guoqiang, a vice director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a press conference.
The obesity rate had risen by 4.8 percentage points to 11.9 per cent, he said Tuesday — a two-thirds increase.
“The problem of overweight and obesity is rising sharply as the dietary make-up has changed,” Wang said.
The average Chinese man weighed 66.2 kilogrammes in 2012, he said, citing a government report on national nutrition and chronic diseases, with women weighing in at 57.3 kilogrammes.
Males have put on an average 3.5 kilogrammes over 10 years, the China Daily said yesterday citing previous figures, while women were 2.9 kilogrammes heavier.
“Smoking, excessive drinking of alcohol, insufficient physical exercises and unhealthy diet such as high salt and fat consumption are the main behaviour risk factors that trigger and worsen chronic diseases,” Wang said at the briefing. — AFP