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Can Eastern medicine’s principle theories be used to reduce obesity rates in America?

According to this newscaster’s opinion, it certainly could. If you look at China’s low obesity rate of 2.6%, it suggests that a balanced approach to health and wellness, combined with a more sensible diet (no McDonalds and Burger King on every block) definitely DOES have a profound effect. The statistics about healthcare spending are the most shocking. Just read:

“About a quarter of all Americans are obese. This week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that obesity-related diseases account for an estimated 147 billion dollars in medical costs annually in the United States. That’s 9.1 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.

If you do the math, the report suggests we could pay the entire ten-year trillion-dollar bill for health care reform by lowering our obesity rate from 25 percent to 8 percent and thereby saving 100 billion dollars annually. And after ten years we’d have 100 billion dollars a year left over.

Obviously, we’re failing miserably to curb the obesity epidemic. But is there a country with a low obesity rate that we can look to as an example? China comes immediately to mind. In recent years the obesity rate in China has soared as urbanization and Westernization have introduced an unhealthier diet and more sedentary lifestyle. But traditional Chinese culture still serves as a model we can study, leading to an obesity rate of only 2.6 percent in 2002. Just as experts are looking to countries around the world for ideas on how to fix our broken health care system, we should be exploring the traditions of other cultures — now and in the past — for ideas on how to follow healthier lifestyles.”

Source: Dr. John LaPook, CBS Evening News