The number of women with unhealthily large waist sizes has increased in recent years, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday, encouraging women to keep their waist size below 80cm to minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease.
From 1993 to 1996, the proportion of women whose waistline was above 80cm was 20.2 percent, but during the period from 2005 to 2008 that number rose to 33.6 percent, according to statistics from the Bureau of Health Promotion, which were released to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The nation’s adult female population is becoming more at risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other illnesses that tend to affect those who are overweight or obese, bureau director-general Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) said.
Photo: Hung Su-ching, Taipei Times
Chu Nian-feng (祝年豐), a professor at the National Defense Medical Center’s School of Public Health, said that when a person’s waistline is too large, the fat that is stored in the mid-section of the body disrupts their metabolism, causing the person’s blood sugar and lipid levels to rise and increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Chiou also advised women to try to keep their body mass index (BMI) at a healthy level between 18.5 and 24. BMI is calculated by taking a person’s weight in kilograms and dividing that by the square of the person’s height in meters.
The bureau’s survey showed that about one in three women had a balanced diet that included vegetables every day, while 29 percent exercised at least three days a week and at least 20 minutes per workout.
The bureau director said that women who are trying to lose weight should eat food that is high in fiber and low in calories, as well as exercise at least 30 minutes daily.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard