Rabail Ghazanfar

Child obesity in China {Student Name} {Course} {Institution} Child Obesity in China 2 Child obesity in China Introduction Child obesity is becoming a key issue in numerous countries, including China, due to the extensive consumption of unhealthy food. Gilman (2008, p. 16) explains that the term ‘epidemic obesity’ emerged around the twentieth century. The aforementioned study indicated that obesity is as dangerous as drug addiction or other hazardous activities as it threatens the development of the children in an adverse manner. Hence, the performance of children in different spheres of life gets affected in a negative manner. According to Zhang et al. (2020, p. 119), obesity is becoming an epidemic in China due to rapid social and economic development. Hence, the social and economic development inculcates numerous issues related to obesity due to the production of multiple types of food. Nevertheless, the current essay aims to focus on the reasons behind obesity, diabetes and heart diseases caused by obesity and the possible solutions for the issue in the context of China. Situation The problem of obesity is increasing in China with the passage of time due to numerous reasons, for instance, eating habits, psychological issues and others. According to WHO (world health organization), obesity has increased rapidly after 1980 contributing in the dispersion of many diseases such as diabetes, cancers, cardiovascular diseases and others (Zhang et al., 2020, p. 1). The aforementioned study indicates that obesogenic environmental factors related to the environment are increasing such as presence and increase in the number of vendors in streets and wet markets in China. Moreover, most of the children prefer to rely on junk food instead of Child Obesity in China 3 having proper healthy breakfast due to their schedule and shortage of time. As a result, they prone to unhealthy eating habits and become the target of obesity. Problem The level of obesity is increasing dramatically in China, affecting the health of people in an adverse manner. The obesity results in facing numerous health issues such as diabetes, heart diseases and others. Furthermore, the main reason for having heart disease and digestive issues is an abnormal increase in weight, which results in numerous health-related issues. Data from the State of Chinese Residents; Study on Diet and Chronic Disease (2015) have been seen by 2012, 30.1% of Chinese citizens aged 18 years were overweight, and 11.9% obese. It arises in comparison to the prevalence in 2002 by 7.3% and 4.8%, respectively. However, overweight and obesity rates among rural residents were lower in 2012 (WDI, 2017). The growth noted in their metropolitan counterparts was higher than the previous years (Research smart). The average ratio of cardiovascular disease and the prevalence of abdominal obesity among Chinese adults have increased. Here too, the rise in rural people indicated a decline in the difference between the two populations. Moreover, overweight and obesity incidence has also risen in both urban and rural areas (0-17 years) in children; the average in 2012 is considerably higher than in 2002. The Chinese wellness report, the National Fitness Survey, during-, was carried out six times. According to WDI (2019) sample of 120,000 students was selected in 2013, students aged from 7 to 18 were chosen by stratified random cluster sampling from seven primary geographic areas in China. 12.2% and 7.1% respectively of these children had overweight and obesity. Furthermore, in 2014, the prevalence rates of overweight and obese were up 11 and 56 times higher in this population than in 1985, respectively (WDI, 2019). The statistics, as mentioned Child Obesity in China 4 earlier, illustrate that the problem of obesity is increasing with the passage of time, and there is a possibility of witnessing an upsurge in the issue in future. Solutions There are numerous possible solutions to reduce obesity that causes serious heart and diabetes issues. Firstly, it is necessary to add exercise in daily routine and have a proper sleep at night for the proper functioning of the body. In this regard, Meldrum, Morris and Gambone (2017, p. 837) explained that moderate exercise for a half-hour on a daily basis could help in controlling the weight gain as said by Centers for Disease Control and prevention. Secondly, the inclusion of fruits and vegetables having fewer calories with larger water content can also help in controlling the weight. In addition, a study conducted in the U.S. showed that healthy dietary patterns by including fruits and vegetables in food could help in controlling weight gain for longterm (Bhupathiraju and Hu, 2016, p. 1729). Evaluation The two solutions proposed to mitigate the effects of obesity are effective if they are implemented properly. Although the inclusion of exercise in daily routine helps in maintaining the weight and reducing the risk of obesity, it also poses some health risks. On the one hand, exercise helps in reducing the adverse effects caused by obesity, such as cardiovascular issues and diabetes. On the other hand, excessive or inappropriate exercise habits can result in different issues, such as a decrease in the muscle glycogen level (Pedersen, 2017, p. 2). Hence, the sudden drop in muscle glycogen level can usually cause dizziness or difficulty in breathing due to heavy exercise. At the same time, consumption of different vegetables and fruits containing fewer calories and more water is considered as an effective way to reduce the weight, which eventually Child Obesity in China 5 helps in controlling the heart issues as well as diabetes. Despite the positive outcomes, there are different adverse effects attached to this solution. For instance, a study conducted in China indicated that the excessive consumption of fresh fruits does not create a negative effect on diabetic patients, but it is likely to create vascular complications in people (Du et al., 2017, p. 2). It shows that the use of fresh fruits and vegetables do not pose major health-related risks for obese individuals. Conclusion In a nutshell, it is concluded that obesity is becoming a key issue all around the globe due to different reasons, such as the daily routines of people and their reliance on junk food. In addition, obesity adversely affects the human body by increasing the risk of catching numerous health issues such as cardiovascular and diabetes. The issues above can be resolved by changing the eating habits and including exercise in daily routine. For instance, the consumption of fresh fruits/vegetables and exercising for a half-hour daily can help in reducing the weight as proven by numerous studies conducted in China and other regions. Hence, people must include exercise in their daily routine to mitigate the risk of catching diabetes or heart diseases. The real issue behind the existence of obesity is unhealthy diet having plenty of cholesterol or calories, which results in gaining weight. Henceforth, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of calorie-rich food. Child Obesity in China 6 References Bhupathiraju, S.N. and Hu, F.B., 2016. Epidemiology of obesity and diabetes and their cardiovascular complications. Circulation research, 118(11), pp-. Du, H., Li, L., Bennett, D., Guo, Y., Turnbull, I., Yang, L., Bragg, F., Bian, Z., Chen, Y., Chen, J. and Millwood, I.Y., 2017. Fresh fruit consumption in relation to incident diabetes and diabetic vascular complications: a 7-y prospective study of 0.5 million Chinese adults. PLoS medicine, 14(4), p.e-. Gilman, S.L., 2008. Fat: A cultural history of obesity. Polity. Meldrum, D.R., Morris, M.A. and Gambone, J.C., 2017. Obesity pandemic: causes, consequences, and solutions—but do we have the will?. Fertility and sterility, 107(4), pp.833-839. Nutrition and Health Are Closely Related - Dietary Guidelines | health.gov (2020). Available at: [Accessed: 3 November 2020]. Pedersen, B.K., 2017. Anti‐inflammatory effects of exercise: role in diabetes and cardiovascular disease. European journal of clinical investigation, 47(8), pp.600-611. Zhang, L., Wang, Z., Wang, X., Chen, Z., Shao, L., Tian, Y., Zheng, C., Li, S., Zhu, M. and Gao, R., 2020. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in China: results from a cross-sectional study of 441 thousand adults,-. Obesity research & clinical practice. Child Obesity in China 7 Zhang, X., Zhang, M., Zhao, Z., Huang, Z., Deng, Q., Li, Y., Pan, A., Li, C., Chen, Z., Zhou, M. and Yu, C., 2020. Obesogenic environmental factors of adult obesity in China: a nationally representative cross-sectional study. Environmental Research Letters, 15(4), p.044009.