Commission steps up battle of the bulge

The National Health Commission has called for intensified efforts from the whole of society to address weight control issues among children and teenagers.

The ratio of children under 6 years of age who are either overweight or obese rose by an average of nearly 1 percentage point a year between 2002 and 2017, and by an average of more than 3 percentage points a year among minors 6 and above, the commission said.

In general, the ratio of children and teenagers under 18 who are overweight in China is higher than the global average. The ratio among children under 5 in China is close to that in Australia and the United States, the commission said.

Rising obesity in China has many complex causes, including aggressive marketing of high-calorie and fatty foods targeting children and teenagers, and reduced physical activity among children and teenagers due to heavy schoolwork burdens, overuse of electronic gadgetry and reduced reliance on walking and bicycling.

In addition, public awareness of the need to control body weight is still generally lacking. Many parents have not yet learned how to help their children develop good dietary and exercise habits, the commission said.

Meanwhile, some schools have failed to pay enough attention to physical activity among students and do not provide obesity education, control, prevention and management for minors, it added.

Ding Gangqiang, director of the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, said about 16 percent of people aged between 6 and 17 in China are overweight or obese — a significant increase compared with decades ago due to rising living standards and changing lifestyles.

"Overweight conditions and obesity cause harm to both physical growth and psychological development of children and teenagers, and increases the chances of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes," Ding said.

It is very important for the whole of society, including parents and teachers, to work together to help minors form good eating habits to prevent them from becoming overweight, he added.

Various measures will be taken over the next 10 years to encourage close coordination and cooperation among families, schools, communities and medical and health institutions to build a favorable environment for obesity control and prevention in order to promote the healthy growth of minors, according to a plan released by the commission in October.

The average annual increase of the overweight and obesity ratio among those younger than 18 in China will be reduced by 70 percent over the next 10 years, compared with the average growth rate between 2002 and 2017, the plan said.