Conference on Obesity Solutions Held in BeijingNearly 50 medical experts from the United States, Britain, Greece, Spain, Italy and some Asian countries gathered in Beijing to attend an international conference on eating patterns and obesity solutions.The 2001 China International Conference on Traditional Eating Patterns, which opened Wednesday in Beijing, was organized by the Oldway Preservation and Exchange Trust, and co-organized by the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, and the National Center for Maternal and Infant Health of Beijing University. Experts point out that when populations abandon traditional foods and substitute processed foods, they tend inevitably towards obesity. The latest report issued by a research institute in the United States shows that the total population of overweight people in the world has reached a unprecedented 1.2 billion, almost equal to the whole population of China. At least 70 million Chinese are worried about being overweight, which causes more inconvenience to their lives, and makes them more likely to suffer from diabetes, hepatitis and kidney diseases. Experts hold that the three killer chronic diseases in the world, namely heart disease, cancer and diabetes, are less isolated from each other and are symptomatic of the unhealthy foods and lifestyles of industrial and technological societies. Obesity, a relative newcomer on the index of fatal human illnesses, is now regarded as a precursor disease for many of the classic chronic diseases. Governments of different countries have taken great efforts to design effective dietary education and guidance messages that are expected to promote health and reduce risks of common degenerative diseases, with the aim of stopping the global tectonic shift to industrial foods that are heavy in added sugars, unhealthy fats and highly-processed grains. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |