RFA Insider keeps things short and sweet this week with stories out of China and North Korea.
The Rundown
China’s National Health Commission is exploring avenues to combat a burgeoning obesity problem, including adding scales to hotel rooms, developing region-specific healthy recipes and hiring Olympic athletes to promote weight management. One of the chronic, non-communicable diseases that Chinese health officials are concerned about is diabetes, which has spread in an unusual way compared to the rest of the world. Diabetes has developed in a shorter time, in a younger age group and in people with lower body mass indexes (BMIs). The reason? Studies have shown that Asians hold a higher body fat percentage compared to their Caucasian counterparts, making them more susceptible to chronic diseases like diabetes are relatively lower BMIs.
In North Korea, citizens are being urged to give their children more “revolutionary” names. However, some residents told RFA that the actual motive behind the order is to discourage people from using names that sound too South Korean. The move is another example of pushback against what Pyongyang regards as an infiltration of South Korean capitalist culture, but also reflects recent declarations from the DPRK that South Korea is no longer considered part of the same country. The North Korean government has suggested names with meanings that convey the party’s eternal love for the people, like Eun Hye (grace), Eun Dok (benevolence) and Haeng Bok (happiness), as well as names that reflect party loyalty, like Chung Song (loyalty), Chung Sil (sincerity) and Chung Bok (devotion).
Podcast Free Asia
And with that, RFA Insider goes on indefinite hiatus as Radio Free Asia weathers the termination of federal grants that fund RFA and its partner networks. We thank you for tuning in over this past year, and hope to meet you on air again.
