The Workshop on Obesity and Disease Risk of Chinese opened Wednesday in Beijing. The workshop issued a report on the obesity situation among Chinese in the 1990s.

According to the report, the Body Mass Index (BMI) -- body weight (kilogram)/ square of body height (meter), which has been recommended by the World Health Organization, of Chinese people should be under 28, otherwise, they can be diagnosed as obese.

The report consists of 13 large-scale surveys, covering 240,000 people in 21 provinces of China's mainland and Taiwan province, with over 15 years and 60,000 surveyors involved.

"Obesity is a kind of disease," said professor Shi Yifan from the Beijing Union Medical College Hospital, adding that obesity is not only health-threatening, but is also the key risk factor for some other diseases, such as diabetes, cardio and cerebral vascular diseases, and respiratory system problems.

The workshop was sponsored by the International Life Science Institute Focal Point in China.