A study has shown that China is currently experiencing its worst obesity problem yet, and this is caused by the nation’s adoption of the western lifestyle which meant trading traditional healthy Chinese food with high-fat, low-fiber western food choices.

The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, showed that over a 29-year period, China has seen a significant spike in its national childhood obesity rates, with less than 1% of children and adolescents considered obese in 1985 to about 17% of boys and 9% of girls considered obese in 2014. Experts are alarmed over this finding.

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"This is extremely worrying," Professor Joep Perk, cardiovascular prevention spokesperson for the European Society of Cardiology, said in a press release. Perk added that out of all the obesity reports that he’d ever known, this is the worst. And because of the study’s size and methods, its findings are not to be ignored.

The study involved 27,840 schoolchildren aged 7 to 18. Data about these kids, such as body mass index or BMI, were taken from six national surveys that were conducted by the Chinese Department of Education in Shandong province between the years 1985 and 2014. The BMIs were checked and screened using obesity and overweight cut-off points that were stricter than those recommended by the World Health Organization, notes BBC.

It was found that the prevalence of obesity among boys increased from 0.03% in 1985 to 17.20% in 2014. Girls, on the other hand, saw an increase from 0.12% in 1985 to 9.11% in 2014. The number of overweight children also increased over the same period of time, from 0.74% to 16.35% among boys and 1.45% to 13.91% among girls.

The findings reveal that boys were bigger than the girls. The study authors believe that this is because of the society’s preference for sons, most especially in rural areas in China. In general, experts believe that the trend in caused by the rapid changes in the socioeconomic and nutritional spheres, leading to changes in diet and lifestyle.

Experts believe that as these findings give the impression that China is set to face a rise in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, it should also serve as a warning and wake-up call to return to earlier healthier habits, as well as to have responsible parenting that will watch over and lead children to make healthier and better choices.

Tagsobesity, overweight, junk food, Western diet, World Health Organization