Survey: Half of Chinese people are overweight, exercise is the best strategy

Be careful! 1 in 2 people is overweight! A domestic health examination organization released a survey and found that among the people examined in five places including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Malaysia, "overweight" has topped the "health warning" list for nine consecutive years. Among them, the overweight rate in Beijing is as high as 60%, ranking first, indicating that the obesity problem in Asia cannot be underestimated.

Exercise is the best medicine to promote health, and more exercise can reduce the phenomenon of overweight.

Song Pikun, president of the MJ Health Management Agency who was in charge of the survey, pointed out that the survey report showed that since 2010, a total of 120,537 people have been examined, and 51.8% of them are overweight (BMI≧23). Among them, the overweight rate in Beijing is as high as 60%, the highest among the five places. Next is Malaysia with 58.0%, Shanghai with 53.1%, Taiwan with 51.6% and Hong Kong with 40.8%, which means that on average one out of every two people is overweight.

Health warning signs related to obesity, such as high fasting blood sugar, fatty liver, and abnormal blood lipids, are also listed in the top five. Being overweight is not only a causative factor for many chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, but also the number one killer of health.

Song Pikun said that "eating more and moving less" is one of the main causes of obesity. Taking Taiwan as an example, among those examined in 2010, the rate of insufficient exercise exceeded 70%. Analyzed by age group, Taiwanese aged 19 to 34 are the least fond of exercise, with as many as 73.5% not getting enough exercise. In terms of gender, women are also less fond of exercise than men, with 73.3% of women not getting enough exercise. This also partially reflects why the rate of overweight in Taiwan remains high.

He also suggested that the first step to avoid being overweight is to manage your health well. Only a small part of the causes of obesity are due to metabolic and endocrine disorders, such as hypothyroidism, hypothalamic disease, and genetic factors. Most of the causes are due to too good nutrition and excessive intake of practical heat energy, which exceeds the needs of daily life. As a result of long-term excess, it accumulates in the body and becomes fat.

Exercise is the best medicine to promote health. Incorporating exercise management into the health management process and combining it with health check-up and physical fitness test results can facilitate tracking and management of one's own health. This way, one can "live longer, live better, and age slower."