Father helps son lose weight to earn Children's Day present

About three times a week, Chen Shunli took his 10-year-old son to run three laps around their residential complex in Beijing before dinner.

"We had a deal that if he could lose 2.5 kilograms before June, I would buy him a Transformer toy as a gift for this year's Children's Day," he said. "It seems that we are at least half a kilogram behind our goal, but I will give him the present anyway to encourage him to keep the habit."

Chen kicked off the workout routine after his son was found to be overweight during a physical examination earlier this year.

"I shrugged off the problem at the beginning because as a parent, who would not love to see their children eat abundantly and grow big?" he said. "But later on, I found him becoming more reluctant to move around and he was eating snacks regularly when studying at home."

As child obesity has increased significantly in recent years in China, experts and parents are taking action to promote healthy lifestyles among children.

Gong Guoqiang, deputy director of the National Health Commission's department of food safety standards, risk surveillance and assessment, said that although the overall nutritional and health status of children and teenagers in China has improved, the issue of malnutrition still exists and the prevalence of children being overweight or obese is on the rise.

"High cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes are becoming more common among younger populations," he said during a recent forum.

Nearly 20 percent of children and teenagers aged 6 to 17 in China are overweight or obese. Among those aged under 6, the rate of obesity or being overweight exceeds 10 percent, with obesity more prevalent in rural areas than in cities, according to the commission.

Ye Zhidong, head of China-Japan Friendship Hospital's cardiovascular surgery department, said that most heart disease patients he encountered three decades ago were in their 70s or 80s. "But in recent years, the youngest patient was only in their late 20s," he said.

Ye said many cardiovascular diseases stem from unhealthy conditions in childhood, such as obesity and the resulting high blood pressure and diabetes.

"There are nearly 300 million people suffering from high blood pressure in China, and the ratio of teenage patients among them is high," he said. "It is important for parents to nurture healthy habits in their kids, such as cutting down on soft drinks and high-calorie food, and exercising more often."

According to the latest dietary guideline for school-age children that was released by the Chinese Nutrition Society in May, those aged 6 to 18 are asked to refrain from sugary drinks altogether, while adults are only advised to reduce or avoid intake of sugary drinks.

"Childhood is a significant stage to develop lifelong habits, so we want the guideline targeting school children to be more assertive," Yang Yuexin, chairman of the society, said during an interview with China Central Television.

Ma Guansheng, a professor at Peking University's School of Public Health, said all of the society should join efforts to create more opportunities for children to exercise regularly. "Parents are encouraged to work out with their kids together, while schools should ensure pupils get at least an hour of outdoor activity every day and communities should set up more public fitness facilities," he said.