The onslaught of fast food restaurants opening daily in China and the ensuing expansion of waistbands among the country's middle and upper classes have prompted a controversial physician's group to create a 21-day regimen geared towards Chinese speakers.
On March 5, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) will launch its 21-Day Healthy Challenge to Mandarin-speaking consumers in China, Taiwan and around the world, making over traditional Chinese foods like spring rolls and ma po tofu (a spicy tofu and pork dish) into vegan, animal-free recipes.
The program launches on the heels of a major announcement from Yum Brands, which plans to open 600 new restaurants in China this year. Yum Brands includes chains like KFC and Pizza Hut.
Dairy Queen has also announced plans to add more 100 locations in China, while a new McDonald's outlet is expected to open nearly every day for the next three to four years, says PCRM.
Citing statistics from the World Health Organization, the group points out that about 39 percent of the Chinese population is now overweight or obese. Type 2 diabetes also affects close to 10 percent of Chinese residents.
The free online Healthy Challenge program has the star power of Chinese celebrities like actress Gao Yuanyuan, musician Louis Cheung and Maggie Q, who will act as spokespeople for the program.
Growing waistlines in China also prompted Weight Watchers, the world's largest chain of diet-centers, to adapt its point-counting system to fit Chinese diets. The company opened its first Chinese outlet in 2008.
Meanwhile, the PCRM is known for mounting controversial and -- some say, sensational -- public ad campaigns to propel its message, one its critics complain is a vegan-heavy agenda that takes aim at the dairy and meat industries.
For instance, in a headline-grabbing billboard, residents in Las Vegas were warned that hot dogs cause cancer. The group also admits it accepted funding from animal rights' group PETA in the past, but no longer.
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