China's sports industry is starting to develop bulges - but not the unwanted kind - as the government steps up efforts to get its people in shape. 

The industry now sees a steady increase in profit margins compared to figures from previous years. As a much-needed support, the State Council set its sights on building a 5-trillion yuan ($786 billion) sports industry by 2025.

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For years now, the Chinese have been consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, food and cigarettes, and not offsetting it by exercising. 

The country wants to reverse this unhealthy trend and by doing so, hopes to see a proportionate decrease in the number of individuals with stroke, diabetes and cancer, figures that have reached epidemic proportions in recent years.

On the private sector side, the Dalian Wanda Group, owned by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, unveiled plans this summer to become the world's biggest sports operating company, following its recent $650 million acquisition of the World Triathlon Corp.

Already leaders in table tennis and badminton, the Chinese have begun entering even larger sports activities such as marathons and open water swims.

To meet this demand, the Wisdom Sports Group is planning on tripling its marathon events in China this year, thereby increasing the number of participants to 10 million or more.

Nike, the maker of apparel and athletic footwear, attributes part of its growth to Chinese women becoming more active in sports. By 2020, the company expects its yearly revenue to reach $6.5 billion.

Though there is a big push by the government, by all indicators Chinese workers want to be healthier.

"If the salary's the same, I'd leave to work for another factory if they have better food," said Yao Weizhong, an assembly-line worker at the Stanley Black & Decker plant.

Nourish, a catering startup founded in 2014, is just one of a number of firms delivering a service that workers are demanding. According to Ian Spaulding, chief executive officer of Elevate Global, food is just as important as salary.

This new health craze is likely due to a growing awareness of the problems associated with obesity. The proportion of overweight and obese adults in China increased 35.4 percent last year from 30.5 percent in 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent report.

TagsSports industry, China gets healthy, Sports companies, Sporting events, healthy food, obesity, China gets fit