CHENGDU, June 16 -- Let's face it: Chinese people are getting wealthier, but not necessarily healthier.

Bian Ke, who has run a busy restaurant for 30 years in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, says the evolving tastes of patrons are responsible for the country's increasing waistbands.

"Up-market food, such as goose liver, is a symbol of high living and opulence," said the corpulent restauranteur. "However, they are not paying attention to the amount of protein they take in."

Traditional ingredients, such as chicken or duck, have now been replaced by lobster and imported steak -- the reason so many people are becoming "pot-bellied", he said.

China's breakneck economic growth has allowed people to enjoy fuller diets, but rich ingredients have led to an increase of obese Chinese. In Sichuan, the most populous province in southwest China, almost one third of the population is portly.

A 2013 survey found there were 62 million overweight Chinese, second only to the United States.

Unlike the West, it is not junk food such as fries and hamburgers that is to blame for the nation's bulk, but rather oil- and salt-heavy food such as hotpot and grilled meats.

"Nowadays, people are too busy to cook at home," Bian said, "which means they are not in control of the amount of oil and salt that goes into their food."

Han, a Beijing-based editor, said she prefers to eat out because "the taste is so much better [and] it is less time-consuming."