The Emerging Epidemic of Obesity, Diabetes, and the Metabolic Syndrome in China

Abstract

China is one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Rapid economic progress has resulted in changes to both diet and physical activity. New found prosperity, increased urban migration, and the adoption of sedentary lifestyles by an aging Chinese population have resulted in a dramatic shift in disease burden—from infectious to chronic. Modern Chinese find themselves increasingly afflicted with the same noncommunicable chronic diseases typical of industrialized nations. Today, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of both morbidity and mortality, affecting both rural and urban Chinese. The rising incidence of cardiovascular disease has been fueled by an epidemic of cardiometabolic risk factors. While hypertension and smoking have received considerable spotlight, little attention has been given to obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Their increasing prevalence is the focus of this paper.