Epidemiology Of Obesity In Children And Adolescents In China

Over the past three decades, China, the world’s most populous country whose population accounts for one-fifth of the global population, has enjoyed impressive economic developments. People in China have experienced many dramatic changes in their lifestyles thanks to the increases in family income and availability of food as a result of China’s economic reform and the growing global trade (CSSB 2008). Meanwhile, people’s lifestyles are becoming more sedentary compared to decades ago. Compared to other groups, children and adolescents are likely to be affected to a greater extent by these changes, partially due to China’s family planning policy, the so called “one child policy” initiated in the later 1970s, which enables parents and grandparents to provide their children with more resources and care.