Unhealthy lifestyles such as lack of physical exercise and eating too much have led one third of residents in this capital city to suffer with coronary heart disease, hypertension and obesity, according to a recent survey.

Statistics recently released by the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that non-infectious chronic diseases such as diabetes and tumors, which are mainly caused by unhealthy lifestyles, have become an obtruding danger to the health of Beijing residents in recent years.

The study on lifestyles and health conditions of residents in 20 local communities started in 2002, showing that 31.8 percent of the sampled residents reported the above diseases because of too much psychological pressure, addictions to salty and greasy cuisine and lack of sports activities.

Irregular blood fat, hypertension and obesity are the three most commonly reported diseases, the survey said.

Urban residents outnumbered rural people in reporting the diseases. At present, 18.17 percent of local primary and middle school students suffer from obesity, sharply higher than the 10.61 percent in 1991.

Forty-seven percent of the sampled people said they never or seldom take part in sports activities and 42.9 percent are troubled by a high-pressure working or living environment. People who are used to salty and oily food accounted for 41.7 and 27.5 percent respectively.

Beijing CDC has started to provide guidance to residents in the 20 communities, helping these people to live a healthier life, said Beijing CDC Director Liu Zejun.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2004)