>BEIJING: WAISTLINES are expanding faster in China than almost anywhere else, with nearly one in four adults overweight or obese, a new study says.
Rising prosperity, which allows more people to afford meat, dairy foods, vegetable oils and sedentary living, is
fuelling the growth, said the study published yesterday in the journal Health Affairs.
"The classical Chinese diet - rich in vegetables and carbohydrates with minimal animal- sourced food - no longer exists," it said.
A shift away from manual labour to white-collar and service-sector work has left China with the same caloric imbalance afflicting the West: people eating more food and burning fewer calories.
The study also notes a rise in television and car ownership, signalling a more sedentary lifestyle - the odds of being obese are 80 per cent higher for adults in homes with a car than those without.
China's 325 million obese and overweight people could double in number in 20 years, said study author Barry Popkin from the University of North Carolina.
Deaths from heart disease and cancer linked to diet have already climbed 20 per cent in China since 1985, he said. --REUTERS, AFP
