Expanding Waistlines: A "Nutrition Transition" in China

Abstract

As China's coffers have swelled over the past three decades, its citizens' waistlines have also expanded. Western goods and lifestyles habits are consistently being imported into the Asian giant, including the obesity epidemic. Chinese children are particularly susceptible and future generations face tremendous health risks despite medical advances. States and international bodies such as the World Health Organization are alarmed at the damage obesity is already producing. The price tag to treat the health problems associated with obesity and the rsulting loss in economic productivity is staggering. While this essay uses China as a case study to examine the causes of obesity and its consequences, social and economic health, the grim reality is that this pattern is occurring worldwide as countries develop and their people adopt Western "nutritional" norms.