More than 85 percent of adult deaths in Guangdong province in the past three years were caused by chronic diseases amid a dramatic rise in weight-related symptoms, according to the Guangdong provincial center of disease control and prevention.

One in three adults in the province is overweight, about 20 percent suffer from hypertension and 13 percent are diabetic, according to the center.

About 20 percent of male adults are smokers.

Rising stress levels at work, lack of exercise and a poor diet, were major contributory factors, medical specialists said.