title: Will China's nutrition transition overwhelm its health care system and slow economic growth?
abstract: Rapid social and economic change is transforming China, with enormous implications for its population and economy. More than a fifth of China's adult population is overweight, related to changing dietary and physical activity patterns. Overweight and poor diets are becoming a greater burden for the poor than for the rich, with subsequent large increases in hypertension, stroke, and adult-onset diabetes. The related economic costs represent 4-8 percent of the economy. Public investments are needed to head off a huge increase in the morbidity, disability, absenteeism, and medical care costs linked with this nutritional shift.
authors.affiliation: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. popkin@unc.edu
authors.forename: Barry M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Popkin
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet / Q000639:trends*; D004467:Economics; D015444:Exercise; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence