Improved nutrition has made Chinese taller
People in China are taller and heavier than in 2002, reflecting improved nutrition, but the number of people suffering from obesity and chronic illnesses also rose, according to the latest health survey.
The report, released Tuesday by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), showed that the average height of Chinese men and women is 167.1 centimeters and 155.8 centimeters, respectively, about one centimeter taller than in 2002.
The average weight of men is 66.2 kilograms and 57.3 kilograms for women, about two and three kilograms, respectively, heavier than in 2002, it added.
Wang Guoqiang, deputy head of the NHFPC, said the increase shows that citizens have better nutrition, with a daily average of 2,172 kilocalories per person.
The malnutrition rate of adults has dropped by 2.5 percentage point, at 6 percent. The growth retardation and emaciation problem in children have also slid to 3.2 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
However, the report found that obesity is a rising problem. About 30 percent of people over 18 are overweight and more than 11 percent are obese.
Nearly 10 percent of children between 6 and 17 are overweight and about 6 percent are obese. The problem is more serious than the 2002 levels.
Wang said fat has been excessively consumed while the intake of beans and dairy products is low.
"China has seen a rapid growth in incomes in the past 10 years. Citizens are wealthier and can afford buying meat and oil products, but the country lacks nutrition education, and so people do not know the importance of a balanced diet, while eating meat products is mistaken for the lifestyle of the rich," Zhu Yi, associate professor of food safety at China Agricultural University, told the Global Times.
She said the traditional eating habits of Chinese, with vegetables and staple foods as major nutrition sources and meat products as secondary ones, have been replaced by high fat, high energy diets which have led to the overweight problem.
"The changing diet has also led to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease," she added.
Wang said the government is going to revise its dietary guidelines to promote healthier eating habits.
According to the report, 25.2 percent of Chinese adults suffer from hypertension and 9.7 percent from diabetes, both higher than the level in 2002.
