The number of overweight, or even obese people in Vietnam, especially in big cities, has increased in recent years as the economy expanded, the newspaper Young People reported in Hanoi Tuesday.

About 16 percent of people aged between 25 and 64 are overweight or obese, the newspaper cited figures from the Ministry of Health.

Specifically, 11.3 percent of people aged between 25 and 34 are overweight or obese, while 17.1 percent for those aged between 35 to 44 are too heavy. The percentage goes up for older people.

Economic development has changed the diet of Vietnamese. Now, meals of Vietnamese families have more protein, fat and dairy products than ever before.

Each Vietnamese person now eats 80 grams of meat and 350 grams of rice each day, according to the Health Ministry.

The model of smaller families with fewer children is also thought to be contributing to the obesity situation. The Vietnamese government has encouraged families to have no more than two children, thus each child receives much more attention, and sometimes, nutrition, from their parents.

Vietnam now has some 2 million diabetes sufferers, mostly from major urban areas, according to the country's Central Endocrine Hospital in Hanoi. Not all of the patients know that their unsuitable diets may be the cause of the disease.

However, obesity is not yet a serious problem in Vietnam, experts said. But the number of obese people may rise in future if the country does not have effective program to raise public awareness.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)