Diabetes is already a heavier burden in China than in any other country, and the one-child policy is likely to make the problem even worse. The Chinese government says there are about 100 million families with just one child. That’s the same number of first-born children, says Zong Yazen, a scientist at the National University Hospital in Singapore; and researchers have found that the (congenital) condition of first-born children may lead to an increased risk of obesity. Zong Yasen and colleagues in Beijing and Southampton, England, are studying the biological mechanisms that, together with diet and lifestyle changes, are responsible for the emergence of 92.3 million people with diabetes in China. This number is almost four times that of the United States. First-born children are initially smaller than their siblings, but they gain weight more rapidly and are instead larger by the time they reach adulthood. This developmental process increases the risk of obesity and may explain why the prevalence of diabetes in China has more than tripled in 10 years, Zongasen said. China has a large cohort of growing firstborns,” Zong said. They are at slightly higher risk for both obesity and diabetes than other groups.” Zong Yazen is an obstetrician who is investigating the causes of diabetes in Singapore. Seventy-four percent of Singapore’s residents are of Chinese descent. Their findings will help identify new ways to prevent diabetes and other chronic diseases. Chinese health ministry officials say these chronic diseases risk weakening the workforce and slowing economic growth. Diabetes-related damage to medical care and productivity costs the Chinese economy $26 billion annually, according to the International Diabetes Federation. It projects that within 18 years, China will have 130 million people with type II diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes. A recent report by the federation said that 1.2 million Chinese currently die each year from kidney failure, heart attacks and other related illnesses caused by diabetes.