Research links the one-child policy to higher child obesity

China's one-child population control policy contributes to rising child obesity, according to new research presented at an international conference in Canada.

Sole children in Chinese families consumed significantly more fat in their diets than in households with two or more children, said Shu Wen Ng, a US public-policy researcher at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

About 8 percent of children in China are obese. While still far below the US, where 31 percent of children are overweight or at-risk, the percentage in China has doubled in 10 years.

Ng and colleague Barry Popkin used data from China Health and Nutrition Surveys beginning in 1991. The research was presented this week to scientists and doctors at NAASO, the Obesity Society, meeting in Vancouver, western Canada.

Sole children consumed 1.2 to 1.3 more percentage points of fat compared with children in multi-child houses. Ng said the difference was greater in urban than rural areas, but no difference between single-child girls or boys.

At the same time, she said, consumption of animal foods had risen between 1991 and 2000, while children are eating less fruits and vegetables.

"If you're an obese or overweight child, you're likely to become an obese or overweight adult," Ng said. "Unless there is intervention to make people more aware, and make changes in lifestyle, this is going to have an impact on their future activity and economic contribution.

"In the big picture, this might even impact on China's development," Ng added in an interview on Tuesday. "Health care costs will go up, and because a fair amount of health insurance in China is still public, government is going to take some of the hit."

Ng said part of the change is economic, with rising incomes allowing people to afford more food, while part may be cultural changes caused by families having just one child.

"There is a growing concern that parents focus a lot on that one child, and there are a lot of potential mental and health problems that might emerge," she said. "When you are a single child, your parents are more likely to cave in to what you want."

Ng, who grew up in Singapore and is doing doctoral research in the US, said the problem is more significant for urban children, who walk less and have greater access to motorized transport.

But she noted the changes throughout China.

"There is a generational divide on the outlook on food. Most parents and grandparents look on food as a matter of survival. For children today, food is more of a status symbol, to tell your classmate, `Oh, have you tried this new type of food, or new brand?'"