Wang Feng, professor of sociology at University of California, Irvine, says the pace of change seen in China during the 1980s and 1990s is unlike anything seen anywhere else in history, and that the social and health problems stored up for decades are coming home to roost. “These are hidden epidemics and they are enduring epidemics,” he says. “You have an explosion in a new diet and nutritional intake in a short time period. Combined with unforeseen, unprecedented ageing, it’s going to be one of the greatest challenges China faces – not just for individual families but it poses a political challenge to leadership.”

For the full story, please visit https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/21/chinas-hidden-epidemics-the-preventable-diseases-that-could-reshape-a-nation.