China targets childhood obesity with urgent new guidelines on food and exercise
- Beijing declares need for nutrition labels, more exercise in school, better habits to help to beat ‘major public health issue’
With one-fifth of Chinese aged 6-17 deemed overweight or obese, Beijing is looking to increase physical exercise and improve nutrition to safeguard the health of young people.
On Monday, the Ministry of Education, top public health bodies and the General Administration of Sport rolled out national technical guidelines for the prevention and control of overweight and obesity in primary and middle school pupils.
According to the guidelines, urgent intervention is needed to address the “major public health issue” among these children.
The guidelines also said interventions were needed for other common conditions such as myopia and scoliosis, to which poor diet and not enough outdoor activity were contributing factors.
Experts have raised the alarm about the health issue, most recently in May when Shen Hongbing, director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, told an obesity science conference in May that more than 10 per cent of children under 6 are overweight or obese.
To address the problem, schools should provide at least one physical education class a day and ensure enough time for students to move around between classes, according to the guidelines.
