The Chinese Rich...and Rich Foods

In China, Finding A New Way To Eat In Times Of Plenty : The Salt : NPR: "Still, fast food has become a habit for a lot of people. KFC first opened its doors in Beijing back in 1987 and now operates more than 3,000 stores in China. McDonald's has about half that many, and there are dozens of Chinese chains, too. It's no surprise, then, that Chinese people are getting fat.

But fast food is only part of the problem. People are also just eating more.

"More, more, more of everything — larger portions, with more ingredients, more salt, more sugar, more oil, more fats," says Paul French, a market analyst in Shanghai who has written a book called Fat China. "Breakfast and lunch and dinner and supper and grazing with snacks during the day. And drinking fizzy drinks rather than tea."


Public-health experts in China say obesity has become a serious problem: Twenty-five percent of adults are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 study published in Health Affairs. But Cai Meqin, a nutritionist at Shanghai Jiaotong University, says all the overeating is partly a reaction to the food shortages under Chairman Mao a generation ago."

'via Blog this'