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HO CHI MINH CITY, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- One in three children aged between 10 and 15 in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City has belly fat, an alarming fact as fat has generally been associated with adults, nutritionists said Wednesday.
A recent survey by the city's Nutrition Center, which involved nearly 5,000 children, found that 22 percent are overweight and 13. 4 percent are obese. Do Ngoc Diep, director of the center, said the proportions of children with belly fat and with obesity were too high.
Two major causes of obesity and belly fat in children were excessive calorie intake and lack of physical activity, she said. Most of the overweight and obese kids polled said they did not have time for sports or physical activity.
Nguyen Thanh Nam, a physical education teacher at Tran Binh Trong Primary School, said that students only had two physical education classes a week.
Nutritionist Truong Hong Son said the ratio of overweight and obese children below five in Ho Chi Minh City is 9.6 percent, higher than the global average of 6.9 percent. The city's rate is also the highest in Vietnam.
