Editor,

This was a good article (Kids must get into habit of exercising, March 30), but lets face it: until parents in China start acting responsibly and not letting grandma and grandpa (prime spoilers) raise their kids, this problem is not going away.

Having lived in Beijing for years now, I must say that a typical Beijing family's preferred diet is not really better than a Western one and may, in fact, be worse. Fried things abound. Why is fatty liver epidemic in Beijing? Is it McDonald's or is it a simple over abundance of fatty food? Is it the fact that parents are overfeeding boys while they tell their girls to starve themselves?

More exercise is not going to make it go away, it has to start with parents and a healthy diet (Don't want your kids going to eat fast food! Don't give them money!), and end with schools with real exercises for students (I've taught school in China for years now, and gym classes are a joke).

Lee, Beijing

(China Daily 04/05/2006 page4)