and you might as well eat well and live well." "So what's wrong with my paunch," asked Indian businessman Lalit Gupta, patting his belly at his grocery shop in New Delhi. "We do know there has been a shift towards an overeating population, eating more than the body requires," he said. Malaysian Health Minister Chua Jui Meng warned at a conference recently that 25 percent of Malaysia's 23 million people are overweight. In countries like India and Malaysia, people still wear flab around their waists as a badge of prosperity. It said less than 8 percent of China's 1.2 billion people exercise with "average intensity" compared to 41 percent Britons and 20 percent Americans. In China, more than 60 percent of people do no physical exercise, according to a survey by a Chinese government sports research organization. When the baby is born, its metabolism may not be able to keep up with the greater availability of food, leading to excess fat.Īlso, people in Asia tend to exercise less than those in the West, which sets them up for heart diseases later in life, although the treadmill trend is catching on among wealthier Asians. If a fetus doesn't receive sufficient nutrition, it adapts its metabolism to consume nutrition conservatively, she said from New Delhi. Reddy, a WHO expert who studied data from 10 countries, cited maternal nutrition. it helps one survive the famine," Friedman said.ĭr. "Having more fat is good in certain environments because. When subsequent generations prospered, they accumulated excess fat, said Friedman. In ancient times, people in areas prone to famine - such as China or India - developed a biological mechanism to store more fat to survive. Jeffrey Friedman, a researcher at Rockefeller University in New York, said populations that store more body fat may have been naturally selected through generations of famine. But they cite a range of theories including evolution, maternal nutrition or simply lack of exercise. Scientists are yet to figure out why Asians have more fat than Caucasians. "I was utterly mortified when my doctor told me I was overweight," said Tan, 22. Standing 1.82 meters (6 feet) tall, he has a BMI of 24.8 - perfect for a Caucasian but potentially harmful in an Asian. In Singapore, Tan Choon Ping, a recent college graduate, was told by his doctor to lose 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) from his 82 kilograms (181 pounds). "Mornings when I forget to take my medicine, I get headaches and lose my balance while standing," Prapai said. The Thai woman's medical problems have forced her into a salt-free diet and a daily regime of antihypertension pills. Prapai has a BMI of 23.5 because she weighs 55 kilograms (121 pounds) and is 1.53 meters (5 feet) tall. Studies in India found that city dwellers have an average BMI of 24.5, and have diabetes rates four times higher than their rural counterparts, hypertension 2 1/2 times higher, and heart disease two times higher. Researchers in Hong Kong found that as people surpassed a BMI of 23, there was a very sharp rise in the risk of heart disease.
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