Three years ago, Dr. Huang did a study of 800 middle and primary school students in Taipei, and discovered the percentage of overweight kids nearly double the previous survey. Between ten and eighteen percent of the different age groups were 20 percent over the standard, while between 20 and 29 percent were 10 to 20 percent overweight.

"If you want to explore the problem of obesity, then you should start research before puberty, or even in the period of early childhood," Dr. Huang advises, noting three basic causes of obesity: One is related to one's genetically determined constitution; the second is environment, including the pattern of food consumption, arrangement of living space, and so on; and the third is age, with infancy and puberty considered by the medical profession as the decisive ages.

Today, many believe that the reason for most of the overweight children is that "life is too good."

The environment of those born after 1970 differs radically from that of their mothers and fathers twenty years ago. The material environment is prosperous to an unprece-dented degree. Parents are now rushing to give to their children what they could not afford to enjoy.

And today's parents are greatly affected by advertising in the process of child-rearing. And within these advertisements may be concealed one of the reasons why this generation "grows out" together.

Take the case of a young couple deciding how they should feed their baby. From the start of the pregnancy, the couple is exposed to ads for powdered milk, with one thing in common: they all use a cute, soft, very plump infant, which seems to say, "Just use this kind of powdered milk and you can be like me!" What parents can resist?

According to a study done at the Pediatrics Department of the National Taiwan University Hospital, fewer than three percent of babies in the Taiwan area are purely breast fed, far from the near fifty percent in both the U.S. and Japan. Ordinarily 800 cc of mother's milk is produced daily, enough to fulfill the needs of children under four months old. But many younger mothers--to get to work or maintain their figures--use powdered milk instead. And with baby-sitters and grandmothers taking care of most children, the possibility to drink too much milk is even greater.

One middle-aged baby-sitter from Neihu explained her difficulty: Children are the future of the family. Besides illness, the only way the parents can tell if you are lovingly caring for the child is whether the child is fat or thin. "Naturally fat is better," laughs this woman, who has taken care of at least ten infants. The powdered milk directions call for 120 cc six times a day, so to be on the safe side she gives the infant 130 cc seven times a day.

One study of child obesity points out that the excessive drinking of milk in infancy can cause the number of fat cells to increase, making losing weight after growing up extremely difficult. "A child's stomach is like a rubber band, you don't want to stretch it too much," warns Professor Huang.

The Chairman of the Metabolism Clinic at National Yang Ming Medical College, Hong Chien-teh, says that more than 6O of his 1,000-plus weight loss cases have been children. "If the child is obese, then the mother must take most of the blame." He says most of the mothers of the overweight child patients he has come in contact with are highly educated career women. Their economic situation is good, but their views on nutrition are incorrect, so they often bring home junk food like soda and potato chips.

Some mothers even see this as a kind of compensation. Mrs. Wu, who works in a trading company, feels that she is so busy, and "one way to express my love for the children is to bring them a box of chocolate or cookies." She adds that these things were the stuff dreams were made of when she was a child.

Not a few food and nutrition experts believe that the entrance into Taiwan of the Western fast food industry has not only changed the eating habits of young people, it is also one of the reasons for childhood obesity.

Tan Ko-lee, a former lecturer in the Health and Nutrition Department of the Taipei Medical College points out that when Western fast food arrived with its concepts of cleanliness, hygiene, quality, and service, many nutrition specialists praised the quality of management and efficiency. But they omitted its nutritional quality. Burgers, shakes, and fries "are the enemies of a slender body, and the most serious shortcoming of this type of food is that it lacks high-fiber green vegetables," says Tan.

Eating more is already a fact. Because of this, the percentage of primary school students whose fat exceeded the standard depth has risen from zero in 1954 to two in 1970 to over ten today. But besides eating too much, exercising too little is also a prime suspect.

People over thirty have vivid memories of childhood: half-hour walks to school ware the norm; after school came marbles, hopscotch, or catching frogs in the great outdoors. Mother had to chase you with a stick to make you go in the house. If you were hungry there was no fridge and no money. The only recourse was to walk a long time to indulge in a yam or a guava lifted from a distant farm. How are kids like these supposed to get fat?

Today's kids get to school and come home by vehicle. In the evening parents are still at work; its safer to stay at home snacking and playing video games than to go to the park alone. This kind of lifestyle is hectic, and there's no place to expend all those calories.

In the Chinese tradition "a fat child has the look of wealth." Obesity is not a vice, it is a virtue! But medical studies show that if obesity is not stopped early, it can increase the risk of heart disease, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and other major killers of Chinese.

The key is whether or not the fat child will be a fat adult. Dr. Huang says no studies have been done in the ROC from childhood to adulthood, so no scientifically based conclusions can be drawn. From studies abroad, however, we know that over 60 percent of children 20 percent or more overweight grow up to be overweight adults.

Given the evidence, perhaps it is time for Chinese to change the traditionai equation of fat with fortune.

[Picture Caption]

How people love babies' fat little legs! (photo by Vincent Chang)

With the rapid increase in working mothers, there are also more cases of grandma and grandpa raising the third generation. (Sinorama file photo)

According to medical studies, children breast fed on mother's milk are less likely to get fat; moreover the daily 800 cc. provided by the mother　are enough to meet the needs of infants under four months.

Besides environment and food, genetics are also a major factor in obesity.

Environment matters. The countryside is open space, with room to run. Urban activities are by necessity mostly passive. No wonder a higher ratio of urban kids than rural kids become obese. (Sinorama file photo)

With the rapid increase in working mothers, there are also more cases of grandma and grandpa raising the third generation.

According to medical studies, children breast fed on mother's milk are less likely to get fat; moreover the daily 800 cc. provided by the mother　are enough to meet the needs of infants under four months.

Besides environment and food, genetics are also a major factor in obesity.

Environment matters. The countryside is open space, with room to run. Urban activities are by necessity mostly passive. No wonder a higher ratio of urban kids than rural kids become obese.

Environment matters. The countryside is open space, with room to run. Urban activities are by necessity mostly passive. No wonder a higher ratio of urban kids than rural kids become obese.