obsity 2

A review of 30 years of epidemiological study on childhood obesity in China

Ding Zhong Yi

，

.Hu Ya Mei and Zhang Jin Zhe

No other disease attracts so much attention from people of all age groups like

obesity

，

No other disease causes so much contradictory views and

interpretations like obesity

；

No other treatment intervention attracts so much

crazy investments of money

，

time and emotions like weight

－

losing from

people of all age and sex groups

，

No other disease causes so much

opportunities of making big money for pseudoscience and businesses like

weight

－

losing. Obesity is an inevitable disease caused by life- style of post

industrial society

，

a waste of social energy

，

a retrogress of the biological

revolutionary process

，

and a loss of traditions and cultures.

The 3rd epidemiological study on obesity among children of 0-6years in China by

National Task Force on Childhood Obesity means that our nation’s study on childhood

obesity has been going on for 30 years. These 30 years of hard work and

achievements are really worth of good summing up and recalling.

We pediatric professionals in China began to make academic preparations for

study on childhood obesity in 1978. We first read extensively the foreign

documentations and carefully analyzed the documents of the first international

conference on childhood obesity held in Italy in 1978. There existed

，

at that

time,contradictory observations and conclusions on obesity in the international

academic field in terms of definition

，

diagnosis standards

，

harm caused by obesity

and intervention of obesity and we could not find any data for reference.

We found it very difficult at that time to locate a fat child of 0-6years in China. But

we still began to accumulate data on depth of subcutaneous fat of small groups of

people and set up to establish an under-water lab of weighting. After the a consensus

conference held by NIH in 1985 to consolidate the standards on obesity

，

things got

much better in the international academic field in that people had at last a

consolidated thinking and standard on obesity in terms of major methodology.

But 2 big unknown factors still existed : the first was whether obesity could happen to

children of 0-6 years and the second was whether obesity could cause immediate

harm to the health of such children during the time span of 0-6 years. It was only

known at that time that obesity was an important factor of cardiovascular diseases but

that was the conclusion of Freiminghem survey and was not a conclusion of study on

obesity itself.

After the consensus conference held by NIH in 1985 to consolidate the standards

on obesity

，

we started to prepare for the epidemiological study on obesity among

children of 0-7 years in China in 1986. We as a working unit made many

achievements

，

innovations

，

and progresses in the field of study on child obesity

since then: We were the first in China to start studying obesity among children of 0-7

years(1

，

2)

，

and this study was redone in the next 10 years and renewed in 2006 for

the third time

3,4

）

.

We were the first in China and overseas to report the harm of obesity to the capability

of children(5) and set a prescription of exercises for children (6). We were the first to

report the test evidence of harm of obesity to the behavior-psychology of

children(7).We made some researches on the relation between child obesity and

hypertension of blood and the related danger factors

（

8,9

）

.

We make a curve of distribution and cut-up point of Kaup/BMI index which is suitable

for Chinese children(10). We wrote and issued a set of treatment rules on preventing

and curing of childhood obesity(11). We later on also began to do molecular

researches on Childhood obesity (12

－

15).

Based on above researches We clearly indicated the definitions of child obesity

and also pointed out that child obesity is a disease of lifestyle closely related with daily

habits instead of a disease of, or an affiliated factor of cardiovascular diseases among

adults.

We put forward guidelines that calls for preventing child obesity from the time of

pre-pregnancy which include: nutritional preparations during pre-pregnancy period

，

nutritional monitoring during pregnancy, nutritional support during breast feeding

period, deepening and strengthening breast feeding , using key nutrients similar to

human milk to do

，

strengthening paste food feeding

，

and emphasizing“natural food

and balanced feeding”principle during the

period of feeding babies with solid

－

state

food< /p>

（

18

－

21< /p>

）

.

The above researches were of a leading nature not only in China but also

internationally. We were invited to make a key-note report on the research we did in

China on child obesity in 2001 at the 23

rd

International Pediatric Conference, and

were invited to make a speech as the only scholar to do so from China at the 11

th

Asian Pediatric Conference held in Thailand, whereas the speech was a review of the

research achievements and latest progresses we made within the framework of

National Task Force on Childhood Obesity, China from 1978 to 2003.

The China Medical Foundation awarded a Yang Cong Rui prize of health for

women and children to Ding Zong Yi in 2002 and highly praised the creative research

made by the Task Force in the field of child obesity and the contribution it made in

organizing the research by the Chinese pediatric circles on child obesity. He Qing of

Pediatric Institute of University of Columbia of USA

（

also member of National Task

Force on Childhood Obesity, China

）

also received a Prize of Academician Hu Ya Mei

and Zhang Jin Zhe at the 3

rd

Asian Pediatric Nutritional Conference because of his

remarkable research in the field of.

1

．

Views based on epidemiological researches

We made a forecast after doing some researches in 1986 that obesity would be a

health problem for Chinese children when the prevalence of obesity at that time was

only 0.9% (2). We renewed the forecast in 1996 that obesity had become a severe

health problem for Chinese children and would become a severe social problem if

uncontrolled properly when the prevalence of obesity at that time was 2.0

％

and

4.2

％

respectively (3). The problem of child obesity was severely out of control in

2006 and the prevalence of obesity and overweight at that time was 7.2

％

and 19.8

％

respectively which were up 3.6 and 4.7 times than the figures of 1996 (3). That

increase is related in some way with the high speed economic growth of about 10% in

China but also related with other factors such as weak resistance against trash food

，

heavy and unregulated advertising of food

，

improper propaganda of urban lifestyles

which all had an impact on people in different ways.

2

．

How to view childhood obesity

？

1

．

What does obesity meanω Obesity can be viewed and interpreted in many

perspectives such as physiology

，

bioch emistry

，

biological evolution

，

behavior

science

，

sociology and economics. From the perspective of economics, obesity is a

waste of social materials and energy. It distorts the distribution of social resources,

cause the unreasonable allocation of public health resources

，

and delays the

sustainable development of social economy. So, containing the growth of population

with obesity problems is a social-economic issue which should be urgently solved by

countries and especially developing countries in their planning of social development.

2

．

Viewing obesity from the perspective of culture. The reason that causes so many

people get fat is they have an unscientific and incorrect lifestyle. Such a lifestyle is

very in vogue

，

luring and evidently erodes the traditional and correct lifestyle. Viewing

from the perspective of progress of society and culture and keeping a social ethics

with good cultural properties

，

containing the growth of population with obesity

problems is a significant issue of protection of social

－

cultures.

3

．

Reflecting from the perspective of biological evolution. The fat tissues in the

human evolution have a meaning of keeping energy

，

defending against hunger and

protecting the life. When obesity happens the fat tissues would overgrow and pile up

，

losing the positive meanings in the process of human evolution and endangering the

human health instead. At this time the pure elimination of some parts of fat tissues

would not stop the remaining “bad ”fat from doing further harm.

We strongly feel based on our research on dying of fat tissues that the so called

weight

－

losing treatment aimed at eliminating local fat or blood fat is to no avail, and

sometimes can stir up or intervene with the distorted dying process of fat tissues and

increase the over-growing and piling-up of the fat tissues.

4

．

Viewing from the perspective of aesthetics. The modern people seem to think that

to be thin is beautiful. Obesity brings no sense of beauty to people and erodes fat

people’s self

-pride and sense of self-image. Faced with life that is getting better and

colorful more and more and a piling

－

up of fat tissues, people begin to admire the

spirit of Olympics and recall their ancestors who were once so strong

，

healthy and

powerful.

5

．

Viewing from the perspective of body development. If child obesity is a deviation in

the process of body development

，

then adult obesity is the first signal of aging. the

reason why obesity is a danger factor of many diseases of old

people( hypertension,)is that it indicates the beginning of the aging process.

6

．

Implications and opinions

As obesity is a chronic disease closely related with

lifestyles so people have to avoid letting children lose weight in a short time

，

avoid

using hunger or covert hunger to treat such children, avoid using medicines or diet

drinks to treat such children

，

and avoid using operations or physical interventions to