More than half of Chinese men are smokers. (Photo : Getty Images)
A recently published study by Harvard University revealed that more Chinese are found with the cardiovascular disease this year. This phenomenon is seen to worsen in the next two decades.
The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology with data that was gathered from 26,000 respondents across nine provinces in China.
Rapid urbanization and change to fast-paced lifestyles are the major contributors in the shift in health behaviors, according to the study.
When China began to open up its economy, heart disease was only 8 percent. By 2010, the rate rose to 34 percent.
According to Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, "China is facing a rising epidemic of cardiovascular disease, and it shows no sign of abating."
Lifestyles of people are changing as many rural areas are beginning to modernize. People are now eating more red meat and fast-food.
The changes in behavior are causing citizens to be obese. Urbanization is also blamed for the lack of physical activity and is making people overweight.
The Harvard study revealed that 44 percent of deaths in 2014 are due to cardiovascular disease.
Similar results on child obesity were also revealed in a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology last April. The study showed that one in six boys and one in eleven girls in China were obese.
According to Professor Joep Perk, a spokesperson for the European Society of Cardiology, the data on child obesity in China is reaching critical levels.
"It is the worst explosion of childhood and adolescent obesity that I have ever seen," he said. "The study is large and well run, and cannot be ignored. China is set for an escalation of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and the popularity of the Western lifestyle will cost lives."
