Edited and translated by People's Daily Online
Nearly 31 percent of Chinese people over 18 years old were found overweight in a national survey in 2010, and 12 percent were considered obese, said Wu Liangyou, director of the Chronic Disease Division under the Ministry of Health’s Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
Obesity, AIDS, drug addiction, and alcoholism are the four most challenging medical and social issues in the world. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for deaths, which cause at least 2.8 million deaths in the world every year.
Li Guangwei, a doctor at the Endocrinology Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said that there are two ways to lose weight. The first way is eating less and moving more, and the second is changing diet and life styles.
Obese people are at higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure. In addition, obesity can cause premature death, reduce quality of life, and affect one’s marriage, education, and employment.
Read the Chinese version at http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2012-03/21/nw.D110000renmrb_20120321_8-13.htm
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