Shanghai people getting bigger

SHANGHAI: Babies are born bigger, kids are more obese and the percentage of people with hypertension (high blood pressure) is nearly twice the national average.

Nutritionists at an ongoing international forum that opened last week warned Shanghai's citizens are piling on the weight, in a city that used to be known for its slender women and trim men.

Dean Eileen Kennedy, from the Nutrition School of Tufts University in the United States, said research showed Shanghai newborns often weigh 4 kg or more. The national standard ranges between 2.5 kg to 4 kg.