Of Sickness and of Health, in China
I really enjoyed this short James Fallows article on how he survived living in the world's most polluted country, China. The synopsis: it isn't that hard! Even though Fallows mostly lived in Beijing while I live in the relatively clean Kunming, I can relate entirely to his thoughts.
To those too lazy to click on the link, here are my thoughts. Yes, air pollution in China is bad. I notice how clean the air is whenever I go back to the San Francisco Bay Area, where I'm from. Visiting my sister and her family in the Seattle area feels like stepping into a pine forest. I spent 12 hours in Beijing due to a delayed flight in June, and the few minutes I spent outside were absolutely ghastly.
With health, though, it pays to look at the big picture. Casting aside air pollution, living a healthy life in China isn't as difficult as it seems.
Consider food. Within a ten minute walk from my apartment I have access to fresh vegetable and produce markets, meat markets, and several restaurants that serve freshly cooked food at affordable prices. Unlike in America, it isn't expensive to eat well in China. With a little more effort and motivation, one could quite easily avoid processed foods altogether. The phenomenon of obesity in China only occurred after the sudden arrival of processed, Western food options such as KFC.
Secondly, the Chinese have invested heavily in promoting public transportation as well as bicycle commuting. In Kunming virtually all major roads have wide lanes for bicycles, and only the annoying habit of Chinese drivers of occupying the lanes during traffic jams disrputs the flow of bicycle traffic in the city. I accomplish mundane tasks like eating and shopping with a bicycle and a backpack rather than a car and a trunk. Healthy!
Basically, for all the talk about pollution health mainly revolves around personal choices. A person who smokes, drinks heavily, eats badly, and doesn't exercise while living in a place like Sweden or Canada will not be as healthy as the person who avoids smoking, drinks moderately, exercises, and eats well in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
October 16th, 2009 - 15:45
Thank you for that article, and I agree with you, as much as I dislike the Beijing air (living in NZ has set my standards ridiculous high) I find more opportunity to walk and exercise in China, eating healthy is also very easily done. Great post. (:
October 17th, 2009 - 12:56
I don’t know if I would see a strict direct causal relationship between “obesity in China only occurred after the sudden arrival of processed, Western food options such as KFC”. It may be a contributing factor to households whom can actually afford KFC/McDonalds, but I’d also list as contributing factors the ‘little emperor’ syndrome and the growth of consumer purchasing power to finally actually eat higher caloric meals within the last 15 years.
October 17th, 2009 - 14:31
I’d love to blame the fast food giants, but there are a lot of culprits here. Like Pat says, more purchasing power = more fat, specifically more meat.
There’s also the rise of the sedentary cubicle lifestyle, and we can also blame a lot of the fatty street snacks that are only really healthy when you have get up to go digging in your farm plot every morning at dawn.
November 4th, 2009 - 00:22
Excellent points on health and personal choice in China. To expound on your point about food, I’ve always found it interesting how poor people in China are usually relegated to eating a diet of rice and fresh farm vegetables. Poor people in the US seem to subsist on more of a diet of McDonald’s and canned goods.