Kaohsiung was the most obese among Taiwan’s six special municipalities last year, with overweight people accounting for 41.3 percent of its population, the Sports Administration said in an annual ranking published on Friday.
New Taipei City’s obesity rate was 40 percent, Taoyuan’s was 39.8 percent, Tainan’s 39.7 percent, Taichung’s 38.4 percent and Taipei’s obesity rate was 37.6 percent, it said.
Taichung’s latest ranking as the second-least obese special municipality is a notable change for a city that had been the nation’s most obese special municipality for the past six consecutive years, the agency said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The obesity rate in Taichung last year was down from the previous year’s 42.9 percent, in line with a general decline in obesity across the country, it said.
Yunlin’s obesity rate was 43.1 percent, the highest of the 22 administrative regions in Taiwan, it said.
Yilan’s 36.6 percent marked it as the nation’s slimmest, the agency said.
Taichung has been conducting a campaign against obesity by providing 960 overweight residents with gym membership and online dietary consultations, Taichung Health Bureau Director-General Tseng Tzu-chan (曾梓展) said.
The demographics targeted in these monthly drives included office workers, parents and various age groups, he said, adding that the bureau defines a body mass index (BMI) higher than 24 as overweight.
The bureau plans to reward Taichung Pass holders who walked 10,000 steps or more a day with bonus points that could be used to reduce public transportation fares, and subsidies for signing up to approved exercise programs, he said.
Regular exercise is good for physical health, especially cardiovascular, respiratory and skeletal-muscular health, as well as mental health, he said, adding that working out is also linked to general happiness and a drop in anxiety levels.
Exercise and a healthy diet are the best preventive measures against obesity, the bureau said.
Taiwanese are urged to keep their BMI between 18.5 and 24, and to exercise in 30-minute increments three to five times a week, the bureau said, adding that the exercise should be rigorous enough to increase heartbeat to 130 per minute.
Working out during free moments on weekdays and with friends at the weekends could effectively increase the amount of physical activity necessary to live healthily, it said.
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