Yanzhong Huang

Opinion | From obesity to diabetes, China cannot afford to put its epidemic of chronic diseases on the back burner

Efforts to tackle the escalating prevalence in non-communicable diseases, the leading cause of deaths, were waylaid, first by Covid-19, then the economic slowdown

Beyond the health crisis of an overweight, disproportionately diabetic population with rising cardiovascular deaths is a brewing social crisis as health budgets are strained

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Yanzhong Huang

Published: 8:15am, 17 Aug 2023

Like many visitors to China, I was enticed by its delectable cuisine. “You seem to have had a change in body shape,” a friend teased. Upon returning to the US, I was astonished to learn I had put on 7lbs (3.2kg) in a mere three weeks.

As I strive to shed those pounds on the treadmill, I reflect on the health implications for those in China facing the allure of a rich diet laden with salt, sugar and fat – the leading risk factors for obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer.

A recent report from the second China Obesity Congress in Beijing underlined my concerns about China’s escalating obesity problem. The five-year study, encompassing data from more than 20 provinces and cities, noted that the number of patients undergoing weight loss and metabolic surgeries reached 10,000 in the three years from 2019 to 2021.

Alarmingly, it took only one year, from 2021 to 2022, to reach the next 10,000. This trend aligns with a National Health Commission report, which showed adult obesity rates had more than doubled from 7.1 per cent in 2002 to 16.4 per cent in 2020. The report further indicated that over half of adults, or more than half a billion people, in China were overweight.

Unsurprisingly, China’s diabetes burden is rising. In 2021, the country recorded 141 million adults with diabetes, a staggering quarter of the global total, despite China accounting for only 17.7 per cent of the world population. Notably, although the US adult obesity rate of 42.4 per cent is significantly higher than China’s 16.4 per cent, diabetics account for just 11.3 per cent of the US population, only marginally above China’s 10 per cent.

A Lancet study anticipates a significant surge in the diabetes burden from 2020 to 2030. By 2030, according to a Chinese report, it is estimated that health expenditures related to overweight and obesity will comprise roughly 22 per cent of China’s total health spending.