Confirming the popular Taiwanese saying that “couples become fat together” (幸福肥), a survey by a nongovernmental organization yesterday showed that more than seven out of every 10 couples gained weight since they started dating.
The Formosa Cancer Foundation said its survey showed that 73 percent of respondents gained weight since they entered a romantic relationship, surpassing a British study the foundation cited suggesting that 62 percent of people in relationships have gained weight.
“About 29 percent of a couple’s main activities are associated with eating, such as having a meal, afternoon tea or drinking coffee together,” said Cheng Hsin-i (鄭欣宜), a nutritionist at the foundation.
“Sedentary activities, including watching a movie, singing karaoke or shopping, account for about 60 percent of dating activities,” Cheng added.
Frequent participation in non-physically strenuous activities, eating out and eating more in relation to exercise performed are common reasons that couples are gaining weight together, she said.
Formosa Cancer Foundation vice president Jacqueline Whang Peng (彭汪嘉康) said obesity can increase the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and various types of cancer.
She said people should maintain a healthy body weight by eating more fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly.
Cheng said couples can try changing their usual activities for healthy alternatives, such as cooking healthy food together to reduce caloric intake, working out while watching TV at home instead of going out to see a movie, exercising rather than slowly strolling in a park, or even having a pillow fight before going to sleep.
When eating out, Cheng suggested that couples choose foods low in calories and fat, such as a light soup instead of spicy hot pot or a thick soup, or stir-fried noodles rather than pasta in cream sauce or baked with cheese.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching