According to a national study on infant obesity conducted by the Chinese National Task Force on Childhood Obesity, which was presented at the annual World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, children in China have been gaining more and more weight over the past 30 years. The increase of childhood obesity has reached 156%.
In fact, 20% of Chinese children living in urban areas are overweight, and 7% of them are obese.
According to the principal author, Dr. Ding Zongyi, who conducted the study on 80 000 children, the childhood obesity phenomenon in China is out of control. The United States is the only country that has a higher childhood obesity rate.
The Westernization of lifestyle and lack of exercise may be contributing factors to the weight gain among children in China.