A Chinese youth works out next to a personal trainer, left, and the character of Ronald McDonald, right, on a tread mill with a Hamburger pasted at the front, during a media junket organized by Mcdonalds with Olympic Athletes as spokespeople, centered on a campaign to raise awarness of the need for physical activity, at a Bally Fitness Center in Beijing Wednesday March 23, 2005.

Just a decade ago, only one in 10 Chinese was overweight, with very few classified as obese. Estimates showed that by 2000, just under a third of all Chinese adults were overweight.