A China Central Television (CCTV) news program has called for the public to work on its physical fitness following the usual Spring Festival eating binge.

A tourist buys snacks at a temple fair of the Badachu Park in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 5, 2019, the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo: Xinhua)

Citing data from The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, the report said the average obesity rate in China is about 12 percent while the country has the largest number of obese people in the world.

CCTV also reported the capital city of Beijing has the highest obesity rate, 25.9 percent, followed by neighboring Hebei Province at 22.2 percent.

It also said China has 97 million diabetic patients and more than 270 million people suffering hypertension. 

There are about a million searches for online information about obesity every day, according to data gathered by e-commerce giant Alibaba. The second half of last year saw about 600 million such searches on Taobao.

Cover file photo: VCG