Chinese health and the effects fast food has made over the last 20 years.
The inevitable process of globalization is undoubtedly accelerating the movement of humanity towards progress. A good example – the Asia-Pacific region, where until recently many millions of people lived in absolute poverty. And now, in terms of welfare, the region approaches North America and Western Europe.
China is the most obvious example. In 1981 there were 84% of people who lived from hand to mouth (The Wall Street Journal). In 2012, according to Gallup the number of people living below the absolute poverty went down to 7% (Kravtsov).
Those millions of people entered the category of the “new Chinese”. This means people for whom welfare is no longer symbolized by a thermos, a bike and a pen, as it was in the 1950s, but by an acquired vehicle, own home and a vocation abroad.
However, it turned out that the long awaited victory over poverty has its downsides (Wilcox). While in Western Europe and North America the death rate from heart diseases has halved over the past half century, in China with its more than one billion of people, there is an opposite trend: the number of deaths from heart diseases has almost doubled and approached the US indices.
Asians thought that cardiovascular disease was the lot of wealthy Americans and Europeans. However, it turned out that they paid with their longevity for the modernization of lifestyle.
The abandonment of the traditional diet has affected lives of Chinese people, who love to eat plentifully. Greasy burgers are particularly harmful to the people who created one of the most sophisticated cuisines in the world, and a truly therapeutic one.
Before, the Chinese surprised with the ability to stay slim at any age. However, when the forced abstinence changed to prosperity, hamburgers and snickers took their toll. Over the past quarter of the century, the number of men who are overweight has almost doubled in China. If this trend continues, in just a decade, obesity may become the lot of every third Chinese person.
In conditions of strict birth control, every Chinese family wants to pamper their only grandchild. Therefore, every Sunday walk to the park usually ends in buying a Snickers or something like that to a child. This is how the problem of overweight adolescents occurs.
As for the fast food itself
Fast food in China is incredibly popular, although it is times more expensive that conventional food in regular snack stores. Every day new fast food restaurants are opening throughout China, attracting more and more Chinese people towards the American lifestyle.
There are three main players on the fast food market in China: KFC, McDonald’s and the Subways. These are the restaurants that are located everywhere in China. They are open on campuses, in shopping centers, in business districts. Advertisement that calls to taste the “food of gods” is placed in the subways, in the street billboards, in commercial centers – in other words, it is impossible to forget about their existence.
Despite the sad statistics, we must pay tribute to the creativity and flexible politics of the international food chains on the Chinese market. They adopt so well to the needs of the Chinese and are constantly improving their menu. For example, in the Chinese KFC you can always order a menu with rice, chicken, corn and broccoli, which is not found in the network menu in other countries. Among beverages, Chinese KFC offers soymilk, which is loved by all Chinese.
There is no need to take a very close look at why is the fast food bad for one’s health. In short, fast food meal recipes have nothing to do with cooking – it is a combination of food industry and modern technology, so that this food contains virtually nothing natural. The composition of fast food contains a large number of dietary supplements, which are responsible for the taste quality of the product and of course the addictive taste. Most of them are harmful for the human organism. Otherwise, fast food meals are high in saturated fat, simple carbohydrates, and sugar, with a lot of processing and little nutritional density (Bankman and Alivisatos). At the same time, traditional Chinese food is recognized as one of the most well-balanced and beneficial in the world. Chinese meals usually consist of plant-based protein, low cholesterol, and some dietary fat (Bankman and Alivisatos).
The harm that is caused by such shift in diet of such a great number of people in China is scary. Bad complexion, unhealthy skin and weight gain are the most visually obvious symptoms. Processed snacks do not give the feeling of satiety, and in a short while become a cause of extra weight. If you eat fast food every day for a month, you are likely to gain five kilos or even more. German Institute of Human Health stated a connection between the fast food diet and quick weight gain (Bankman and Alivisatos). Then there are the coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes that derive from consuming processed foods (Odegaard, Koh, Yuan, Gross, Pereira). The rate of diabetes among Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 18 was about four times that of American teenagers (Bankman and Alivisatos). Overall, regular consumption of fast food leads to disruption of the microbial balance in the intestine. Even the process of hormone production can be affected. Obviously, fast food is not the only monster there is to blame. There is a sedentary lifestyle, a rising level of pollution, but what we eat contributes the most to the overall picture.
Why do people continue consuming processed foods if there is so much harm in them? There are several principal reasons for that. First, it is fast. There is no need to cook, to clean and if you only have a fifteen-minute break, you know where to go to find it. Secondly, in places like China, fast foods like KFC or McDonald’s bring Western culture to mind and it is a very cool association in the East. Then there are attractions, like Happy Meals, and then your children drag you there. Finally, for the region like China – there is not enough information about the harmful effects of the processed foods. So in order to break this vicious cycle of fast food consumption some serious decisions and measures have to be taken, before the Chinese economy breaks because of the health care problems. Which is by the way a real issue China is facing these days (French).
Why the Chinese government sits still doing nothing while there is almost an epidemic obesity walking across the country? Actually, Chinese activists and officials presented a large number of initiatives. The new playgrounds were introduced for smaller children and in schools – in order to increase children’s activity. A plan for a healthier school meals was created and specific obesity awareness programs were launched. There were even proposals to cut presence of fast food advertisement, but that did not work at all. However, for one reason or another none of the initiatives were not received as expected or were ignored at all, thus not changing the overall health picture in China.
So the question is still acute. Recently there seems to be a reconsideration of the whole program, addressed to change the relation towards fast food in China. The government decided to take a complex approach and target all segments at once. They decided to raise awareness in the nation and encourage food producers to grow healthier food. This way the fast food production will be encircled by the healthy choices.
After reading many articles and recommendation regarding the issue, I think there is one principle that should be followed – consistency. The problem should be picked up at the very beginning and guided until the end.
(Parents of) Young children, adolescents and the uneducated people. These are the groups of major risks. Children should be educated from the very young age about the harm of the processed food and parents have to make more effort in making home cooking a tradition even in this age of constant time-lacking. As these children become adolescents they should already be aware of the consequences, and here the school picks up the idea (with all its healthy meals, absence of vending machines and active playgrounds) and guides them into the adult life with all the knowledge of healthy food choices. At the same time, producers of eco food should be volunteering to make their products known to larger masses and make people learn about their benefits. Although, this perhaps is the task for the government to substitute some KFC and Subways advertisement with commercials of healthy foods. Also the government has to build an association in the mind of the nation that healthy food choices are the coolest and the trendiest thing right now, so that the image of McDonalds = Cool would be eradicated. What is more important, China has to bring its culture back. After all, this is the country with the largest world population that managed to introduce one child policy. There is nothing impossible after that. Of course, the changes will not be immediate, since the process has been going on for some time, but if the approach is taken from the very beginning – there is a very high chance for success and for another generation of bicycle lovers.
Works Cited
Bankman, Judy and Alivisatos, Elektra. “Western Fast Food Chains Flourish in China, Rates
of Obesity and Diabetes Skyrocket.” Food Tank RSS. 14 August 2013. Web.
Wilcox Julie. “Chinese Face Major Health Risks On The American Fast Food Diet”. Forbes.
26 July 2012. Web.
“Here’s How Much Poverty Has Declined in China”. The Wall Street Journal. 18 April 2013.
Web.
Kravtsov Grigory. “China makes huge strides to tackle poverty, report says”. CNN. 24
December 2013. Web.
Andrew O. Odegaard, Woon Puay Koh, Jian-Min Yuan, Myron, D. Gross, and Mark A. Pereira. “Western-Style Fast Food Intake and Cardiometabolic Risk in an Eastern
Country”. National Center for Biotechnology Information. 2 July 2012. Web.
French, Paul. “Fat China: how are policymakers tackling rising obesity?”. The Guardian. 12
February 2015. Web.
