China is putting scales in hotel rooms and promoting healthy recipes tailored to different culinary regions on social media in a bid to stem the nationwide obesity problem, according to health officials and state media.
China’s National Health Commission is hoping the recipes and other advice will “popularize” a healthy lifestyle in a country where more than half the adult population is overweight or obese, experts said.
“The main risk factors for the health of the Chinese people at present come from chronic non-communicable diseases,” National Health Commission Director Lei Haichao told a March 9 news conference in Beijing.
“While our living conditions have improved, we have also seen problems such as higher energy intake and relative lack of exercise,” leading to obesity and overweight, Lei said.
The Commission has hired Olympic athletes and released WeChat emoticons to promote weight management, while hotels have installed scales in their rooms to encourage a weight-conscious attitude among traveling businessmen, he said, calling on more hotels to follow suit.
He said officials will also encourage the setting up of weight clinics in hospitals to help people live healthier lives.
The Commission’s weight-loss manual for 2024 includes recipes tailored to different culinary regions of China, taking into account local tastes, the Global Times reported.
The spring menu for Northeast China includes dishes like iron pot stewed fish and vegetable wraps, complete with detailed energy content, it said.
The government will likely be enlisting the help of neighborhood officials and their “grid” surveillance system, the paper said.
High obesity among children, too
Jennifer Bouey, senior researcher and epidemiologist at the RAND Corporation, said China’s obesity epidemic is a serious one, with more than half of Chinese adults either overweight or obese.
“Data from 2020 shows that the adult overweight rate in China is 34.3%, and the obesity rate is 16.4%, which taken together exceeds 50%,” Bouey said. “The obesity rate among children is also very high.”
That compares with just 5-7% of adults being overweight and only 1% obese during the 1980s, she said.
By 2030, more than 65% of Chinese adults are expected to be overweight or obese, bringing a burden of disease that will likely cost 418 billion yuan (US$57.7 billion) in medical expenses, according to government predictions.
China officially defines overweight as a Body Mass Index, or BMI, of 24-28 obese as higher than that.
This means a very high increase in the rate of tumors, heart disease, and metabolic diseases including diabetes, Bouey said, adding that type 2 diabetes is already a major problem in China.
“These are all very expensive diseases that have a very big impact on public health,” she said.
Economic development has allowed over-consumption
Randall S. Stafford, professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and project director of the Center for Preventive Medicine, said East and South Asian people are more likely to have metabolic problems at lower obesity levels, so have a higher risk of chronic disease.
And it’s largely a problem for countries as they emerge from widespread poverty and food insecurity, he said.
“Economic development has made possible the over-consumption of calories and other lifestyle changes that promote the development of chronic disease, particularly heart disease and diabetes,” Stafford said.
“Obesity is particularly problematic in East and South Asia due to genetic differences compared to people of European and African ancestry that induce metabolic problems at lower levels of obesity.”
He said the United States doesn’t appear to have a “unified strategy” to tackle the problem, with the use of weight-loss drugs now becoming widespread.
“A healthier strategy must emphasize increased physical activity, a predominantly plant-based diet, attention to stress reduction and sleep, and weight maintenance prior to weight loss,” Stafford said. “Combining these strategies with drugs for people most prone to chronic disease development may be the best option.”
Bouey said there is an urgent need to increase public awareness of the problem in China.
“Obesity in China also comes against a specific cultural background where people have a fairly old-fashioned view of food, especially the older generation,” she said, adding that 30 years of the “one-child policy” had led to high levels of obesity, especially among boys.
“Women pay a lot of attention to their weight, but men don’t have such requirements,” she said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.