China Economic Growth Creates Obesity, Hypertension Problems
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
As China's living standards have risen, so has the incidence of obesity, primarily due to a change in lifestyles in a shift from rural to urban societies. The World Health Organization's China representative said the organization estimated 200 million overweight as of 2002 and another 60 million obese, a fifth of the population. The figures represent 39 percent and 67 percent increases, respectively, over the previous 10 years. In addition the cases of hypertension in adults rose by 31 percent from 1991 to 2002, representing 160 million Chinese with the problem. The WHO representative noted the rapid growth of the two situations exceeded anything in the rest of the world. (Click here for more