Fat Childrens' health problems - Paul French

Paul French

Bad teeth and type 2 diabetes are just two of the problems China's fat children develop, tells Paul French in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Paul French is the co-author of the bestseller Fat China: How Expanding Waistlines are Changing a Nation.

"The kids have a bad diet, a sedentary lifestyle and very little knowledge about sports," said Paul French, the author of Fat China, a book about China's changing diet.

"Type 2 diabetes is a huge problem, and dentists are complaining that they are pulling second teeth in children as young as 12," he added...

The number of obese people has risen from 18?million in 2005 to 100?million last year, or nearly eight per cent of the population, while 500?million, or 39 per cent, are overweight.

China remains far behind the U.S., where 74 per cent of adults are overweight, and the U.K., where the figure was 61 per cent in 2009.

"The Chinese are now blase about food. They over-order at restaurants and sometimes just walk away, to show they can," said Mr French.

He said the hot dog competition was "a celebration of gluttony", a sign that the country no longer had to worry about whether there would be enough food. China was still in the grip of mass starvation less than half a century ago under Chairman Mao, which led to the death of 30 million people.

More on obesity of children in China in The Daily Telegraph.

Paul French is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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