Noted Immunologist on health situation for all age groups in China

The overall health condition of the Chinese is far from optimistic, as poor health is afflicting 60 percent of the middle-aged, nearly 100 percent of the elderly and a sizable proportion of children.

Most people complain of declining health condition, particularly higher blood pressure and lower vitality, after they become 40 years old, says Feng Lida, director of a Chinese immunity research center and vice president of the general hospital of the Chinese Navy.

Cardiovascular diseases, presently the No. 1 killer in China, are to blame for 34 to 40 percent of deaths caused by illness, Feng told a recent health care summit in Beijing.

Coronary heart disease and apoplexy alone are claiming 1.1 million and 1.5 million lives respectively each year, he acknowledged.

A recent survey conducted by the Shanghai academy of social sciences shows that the average life expectancy of science and technology professionals is 67 years, some 3.26 years shorter than other urbanites.

"Meanwhile, 15.6 percent of intellectuals die between 35 and 54," said Feng.

The same survey has found that an excessive workload, exhaustion from overwork and the heavy burden of supporting their families endured by middle-aged professionals in Beijing have, among other reasons, shortened their life expectancy by an average of 20 years.

According to the survey, the average life expectancy of intellectuals in Beijing has dropped to about 54 years from 59 a decade ago, while the average life span for common Beijingers was 76 years.

On the other hand, a growing number of Chinese adults find they have to fight constantly against subhealth, a "third state" between healthiness and ailment.

Ten to 20 percent of the urbanites complain of constant fatigue, and the percentage is as high as 50 percent among science workers, journalists, copywriters, public servants, actors and actresses and taxi drivers.

According to a survey on the health situation of China's media workers, 68.5 percent of them sleep less than eight hours a day, 60.5 percent of them have never taken their annual vacation -- a paid leave protected by the country's labor law, and 44 percent of them continue working even when they are sick.

Though the average life expectancy of the Chinese has kept growing over the past decades, the health condition and subsequent qualify of life for the country's 120 million senior citizens above 60 years old are not quite optimistic.

Statistics show these elderly people are suffering from two to three diseases per person, particularly tumors, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebral diseases and senile dementia.

Besides, 25.2 percent of the senior citizens are handicapped and another 8.1 percent are confined to beds or wheelchairs for varied diseases.

Troubled by shortsightedness and many adult diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, the health situation of Chinese children is equally worrying, notes Feng.

Statistics show that 34.6 percent of China's primary and junior high students are shortsighted, and the percentage is as high as 70 percent among senior highs.

While the average 60 percent incidence rate of shortsightedness for Chinese students ranks second in the world, the absolute number of young sufferers of the eye disease has topped all other nations given the large population base.

Meanwhile, the number of overweight kids in China has mounted at least five times over the past decade to make up 12.6 percent of the young population.

In Beijing alone, the obesity rate of kids climbed to 13.8 percent in 2000 from three percent in 1990.

Besides, about 40,000 children in the city are suffering from adult-onset, or type 2, diabetes -- the form of diabetes that normally only strikes adults with unhealthy lifestyles and is considered a chronic "disease of the rich."

Doctors say lack of outdoor exercises and too much time in front of TVs and computers are the main reasons behind the child obesity.

"A balanced diet, rational nutrition and enough exercise will help control weight for people of all age groups and contribute to their overall fitness," said Feng.