More babies and young children are getting fatter, a survey by Shanghai Children Health Care Center showed.
The obesity rate among babies under the age of one year old was 4.55 percent, up from 1.95 percent in 1996.
The rate among children between the ages of three and six reached 8.3 percent, almost 2 percentage points higher than 1996.
According to Shanghai Evening Post, doctors blame improper feeding habits for overweight children.
Gong Qun, a doctor in the centre, said that most mothers were too busy to breast-feed them. The children, instead, are given high-calorie formula food.
Breast feeding is the best way to ensure a baby's health, Gong said.
He also warned parents not to give too much meat and cake to children.
(China Daily June 20, 2002)
