This USA Today article is a great example of the media looking squarely in the face of good news and discovering how bad it is (especially if the bad ol’ West can be sullied in the process).

The article states that “signs of the better life spawned by 25 years of capitalism abound” in China, which “today little resembles the impoverished, hermetic land that existed before its leaders began freeing the economy in 1978. But” — and here it comes — “these visible improvements mask the dangers of moving too swiftly from communist scarcity to capitalist abundance. Today’s spreading prosperity is redrawing traditional Chinese living patterns to mimic Western habits — for good and ill.”

The article explains. “In a country where man-made famine killed 30 million people as recently as the early 1960s, more than one-fifth of adults are now dangerously overweight or obese. The proportion is expected to approach 40% in two decades.” Horrors!

Here’s more:

As China strives toward its goal of a xiaokang or moderately well-off society, many Chinese are trading a venerable lifestyle that emphasized restraint for something closer to Western indulgence. The public health consequences are as predictable as they are deadly. From 1995 to 2025, deaths from diet-related illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and adult-onset diabetes are expected to increase 10 times faster than population growth, according to Barry Popkin, a University of North Carolina economist who studies dietary changes in developing countries.

“The increase in life expectancy they’ve seen could slow down or turn around. Certainly, the burden of health care costs is going to go up immensely,” he says. “With China so important economically, this is one of those things that could drag it (down) if they don’t deal with it.”

To recap:

• The Chinese used to face mass starvation, and in order to survive they had to venerate restraint in eating and drinking, plus their transportation options were limited to walking or biking (i.e., “traditional Chinese living patterns”). But back then, people were a lot skinnier and died a lot sooner, so they didn’t put too much financial strain on the health care system.

• Today, however, because of its experiment with some forms of Western capitalism, China has seen a large increase in life expectancy and affluence. The downside is folks are eating more, drinking more, walking and biking less, and living longer (i.e., mimicking “Western indulgence,” thank you “globalization”) — and that’s really putting a burden on China’s health care system.

Quote of the article:

“Life is getting better. That’s why they’re getting fat.” 

— Written by Jon Sanders on May 21, 2004