While the trend in China parallels that in the U.S., it is "much more rapid, " says Frank Hu, an associate professor in the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, who has conducted his own studies of the phenomenon.

FORBES: Fat In China

The most telling comment on the two new studies comes from Walter Willett, a nutritionist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

ECONOMIST: Nutrition

She said, for instance, that U.S. studies, including the big Nurses Health Study at Harvard Medical School, have demonstrated the benefits of the diet in a U.S. population.

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