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As the Chinese economy beefs up, so are its citizens ... to the point where "Fat" is no longer just a popular name, but also the description for 100 million Chinese citizens.

That number is small compared to China's 1.5 billion population, but experts fear the number of obese citizens could double in 10 years.

What is the reason for all the super-sizing? According to Los Angeles-based bariatric surgeon Dr. Carson Liu, it's a case of East meets West.

"Obesity is definitely associated with economic wealth," said Liu in an e-mail interview with AOL News. "We saw [increased obesity] first in Hong Kong, and it will definitely continue in Shanghai and Beijing. Obesity rates are high wherever there are fast food restaurants."

Liu, who hails from China, says that the blooming economy means higher wages and more interaction with American-style restaurants that are popping up to take advantage of the newly discovered yearning for fast food.

"They've become more in tune with the American diet, and as a result, they'll end up suffering from more obesity," Liu predicted. "They want KFC, McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc."

But American-style fast food isn't entirely to blame. Liu says Chinese citizens may have to decide whether their national dish, rice, really has a place in their daily diet.

"If you're just eating rice and you're a vegetarian, it's fine," he said. "However, if you're eating rice with other processed foods, it can be the equivalent of breads, carbs and starch."

But not every dietary expert thinks rice is the problem. Registered dietician Manuel Villacorta says rice is very healthy, depending on how it's consumed.

"There is no other crop that has fed more people over a longer period of time," Villacorta said by e-mail. "Rice in smaller portions when eaten with a balanced meal is an energy-boosting essential food. In traditional diets, rice is eaten in combination with many other dishes, making it a side dish, not the main dish."

Villacorta also says no other food can capture the essence of moderation like rice.

"Ponder this, if rice has fed the world longer and more abundantly than any other crop, why is it only recently that it has been linked to obesity and diabetes?" he asked. "It all lies within the portions. Filling an entire dinner plate with rice for two meals per day is not the way it was traditionally eaten."

Liu predicts that the obesity problems plaguing American citizens are surely going to occur in China, and points to his own brother, who is obese, in part, because of his adherence to the highly processed Western diet.

As the quality of life improves in China, they'll experience what we experience in terms of obesity," he said. "Obesity is related to the number of calories, amount of carbs and starch in one's diet and a lack of exercise. The Chinese will become more industrialized, which makes them more sedentary, which leads to obesity."

Meanwhile, British economist Paul French, who is soon to publish a book on China's rapid weight gain, tells Fox News that China's one-child policy, not rice or Big Macs, may explain why many Chinese citizens may soon have more chins than a Chinese phone book.

"One child has mom, dad and two sets of grandparents," French said. "It's what we call the six-pocket syndrome. All of that money is being lavished on one little emperor to whom nobody can say no. And it's leading to a rising rate of obesity amongst children."