Work

Will China’s Nutrition Transition Overwhelm Its Health Care System And Slow Economic Growth?

Year: 2008

Type: article

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.

Source: Health Affairs

DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.4.1064

Author: Barry M. Popkin

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development