The Worries of Growing up 

With taller buildings being built in China, the usage of lifts is becoming more popular. Why walk up and down stairs when you have a lift? And with an influx of more cars hitting the capital every year, and yearly incomes on the rise, more and more Chinese can afford to buy their own transport. And with more cars for families to drive their children around in and lifts to take them to their door, children are losing out on exercise opportunities.

Every level of school up to university in China has as part of their daily activities, exercises where all the students take part and which lasts around “20 minutes”. These are carried out mid morning everyday in the school’s playground and are aimed at trying to waken up the students’ brains! Although seen as somewhat tedious by the students perhaps, as a Westerner seeing this and even participating in it, I believe it to be an excellent idea! Late morning when you’re feeling sleepy and dreaming of lunch time to come around, out you go, come rain, wind, dust or sun to get the blood pumping through your body. Such few exercises and sports opportunities outside of school mean children in China are getting bigger.

With so much time spent at school in one day, it should be the school’s responsibility to teach children about a healthy life style.

This particular school on the outskirts of Beijing provides each and every student with a yoghurt around 10am everyday. This is offered to the students as it’s seen as a healthy snack providing them with several vitamins to keep their bodies and bones strong and healthy. I’ve been told that many schools provide snacks free to the children but these may not always be as healthy as those of this school.

According to specialist doctors, this chart shows how you should divide out the total percentage of calories consumed in one day. Lunch is where you should eat the most, followed by breakfast and finally dinner. And sports and exercises should be carried out in moderation.

Average schools in China only provide physical exercise classes for about “2 hours” a week, leaving the rest of the week being stuck inside classrooms staring at the blackboard. Although this is also very necessary throughout a child’s life, sports classes should maybe play a more important role than they currently do. This school demonstrates typical exercises carried out weekly. Jumping, running, and playing basketball are just some of the many different outdoor activities the children enjoy doing. A school has the duty to not only teach its pupils various courses, but also how to live a well-rounded life, with healthy living included in this.

Come lunch and dinner time, children at this school are taught the way to choose food by themselves and all options available to them are remarkably healthy, with just a few of the desserts containing a few sneaky calories. There were plenty of vegetables, fish and salad and you couldn’t see any fizzy drinks in sight! The children seemed perfectly happy with the food and drinks they were given, telling me how fast food and fizzy drinks are not healthy at all! Being allowed to choose your own food does of course have its disadvantages, but the canteen staff were there at the ready keeping an eye on the children’s choices. This is a clever way to show children the right path to follow when it comes to living a healthy life.

Many Chinese still cling to the traditional concept that affluence can be measured by the volume of food available. The more food the better and no-one wants to upset a host by leaving too much food on the table. The New China Children’s Hospital explains that children now eat less grains and vegetables, and more protein high in fat.

One element very different to children in Western countries is the little amount of free time to play that Chinese children have. Their homework and after school private lessons take up such a large amount of time, WHEN do they have time to be a child and relax? Always sitting and reading just to learn new theories to make sure they’re top of the class.

Less than a decade ago, it was difficult to find a decent gym outside of a five star hotel in Beijing. But now the remarkable demand is being fuelled by a lifestyle revolution among a new generation with the disposable income to invest in what most people regard as the single most important thing in their life: their health. But health experts still insist that it’s not good for a child to go to the gym. There are many other ways for them to lose weight.

In the year 2000 -2001, leading Swiss and German pharmaceutical giants introduced their latest weight reduction products to China. Although China has many of its own tonics and teas to help lose weight, they are considered to be low-efficient. Ads in newspapers to lose weight are also constantly springing up.

Obesity in China is becoming a serious issue and is a major cause of preventable death. Doctors say the health risks are real, and blame a shift in diet from traditional Chinese to Western-style fast food. In their opinion, it’s not necessary to give children of a very young age various pills to take, but in fact just control their diet and give them more vitamins. Obesity can unfortunately trigger other illnesses such as hypertension, asthma, strokes, diabetes, respiratory problems and coronary heart disease.

While most Chinese see a well-fed child as a sign of health and wealth, society as a whole can be quite intolerant of overweight people. Whilst on the outside, parents stick up for their child, on the inside they too are becoming worried of this on-set trend. What will other people think of their child, will their child be teased by other children and will they grow up constantly feeling ashamed? Another point to look at is how much money the parents must spend on the hospital and treatment. And of course whether or not they can afford the time off work to make the frequent trips to the doctor.

This little boy of four is suffering other illnesses due to his being overweight. At such a young age it surely doesn’t seem fair, but as doctors cite, this disease can affect anyone. There are no special characteristics to it. Of course having fat genes doesn’t help matters, and according to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, if both parents are obese, a child has a 70% to 80% chance of becoming obese themselves. Of course there are environmental and social factors to also consider. This undoubtedly puts great strain on the family too.

Cases of obesity among China’s 300 million children have been increasing at an annual rate of eight percent. One in ten children is considered overweight. In response, numerous fat clinics have flooded the marketplace. One such fat reduction hospital in northern China called ‘Aimin’ which means “love the people”, treats around 200 foreign customers a year. The chronically obese from Europe, Oceania and also China itself come to poke away pounds with acupuncture. The basic goal of acupuncture is to restrain the appetite, while speeding the metabolism of the body.

Watching these two young teenagers at both the hospital and in their free time shows a sense of will to fight. Gone are the days of binge eating in front of the television or showing a lack of interest in exercise. Of course, they have had to learn things the hard way, but with remarkable results clearly visible you know they’re serious about it. Obesity, the dark side of Western affluence, is shoving its way into the world’s most populous developing country, and although bad times in the recent past may contribute to China’s growing paunch, there’s still time to curb this problem as China’s Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety urges the Government to pay greater attention to this area. But if the trend of unhealthy eating continues along with the ‘little emperor’ theory, China is going to face serious problems.

Health experts although not completely blaming western fast food on China’s obesity problem today, do indeed believe that Chinese snacks such as dumplings, mooncakes and noodles are passé, and all Chinese children want these days are burgers, fries, ice-cream and pizza! And to help fight the flab, a few main cities have set up ‘fat camps’ to help rein in this problem. Also known as ‘boot camps’, these chubby children are trained to look after their bodies through various forms of exercise and careful eating. Fat camps are usually held throughout the summer holidays for two weeks or more, but can any real change take place in such a short space of time? These camps are a fairly new phenomena to China although they’ve been happening in the US and the UK for several years already. Health nutritionists state that the children in China and around the world should not live in excess like they are now as it will cause great problems for their future. And that by sending them away for a month once a year is going to make no difference, and it’s only their families who can help make modifications in their life.

Editor:Hu  Source:CCTV.com