Socioeconomic disparities in obesity among children and future actions to fight obesity in China

As the second largest economy and the most populous country in the world, China has experienced many dramatic changes in social and economic development in the last 30 years. There have been many changes in the lives and lifestyles of Chinese people, while there are many remarked shifts in their eating and physical activity behaviors, including consuming more energy dense foods and having increasingly sedentary lifestyle. As a result, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese has been increasing rapidly over the last two or three decades (1-3). On the other hand, the prevalence of undernutrition has dropped dramatically. These have been happening among children and adults (1,2,4). National data showed that in recent years approximately 43% of adults and 20% of children in China are overweight or obese (2,4,5).