CHL China to Support Chinese Government’s Healthier Lives Initiatives, Part of China’s National Nutrition Week

The CNS, together with the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute of Food and Nutrition Development of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, have jointly launched the “National Nutrition Week” to improve the nutritional awareness and overall health and wellbeing of Chinese citizens.

The launch ceremony was held on 13^th May in China with representatives from seven ministries in attendance. The theme of the 2022 National Nutrition Week is “Learn nutrition labelling, shop wisely and cook smart.”  The Ministry of Education emphasised the importance of nutrition education in schools, particularly healthy meal preparation and cooking classes for teenagers and young adults. The goal is to help people understand labels, which in turn help to empower better choices and ways of cooking.

The core information of China’s Dietary Guidelines was made available to the public along with the launch of a series of online and offline activities such as “Best Nutrition Choice”, ” Dietary Guide Promotion Star Plan” and “Food is Power” projects.

The National Nutrition Week has been running for seven consecutive years and its popularity growing. In 2021, the total number of activities of the National Nutrition Week reached 208,975 (both online and offline), with more than 150,000 scientific and technological personnel participating, reaching around 700 million people.

Established in 2015, its primary goals are to:

1. Standardise Scientific Knowledge

Health professionals are encouraged to disseminate nutritional and health information in a unified way, thus preventing misinformation.

2. Advocate the Dietary Guidelines to Chinese Residents

After six years, the dietary guidelines have been revised and compiled by the Chinese Nutrition Society, which include eight recommendations:

1. Enjoy a varied and well-balanced diet.
2. Be active to maintain a healthy body weight.
3. Have plenty of vegetables, fruits, dairy, whole grains, and soybeans.
4. Eat moderate amounts of fish, poultry, eggs, and lean meats.
5. Limit foods high in salt, sugar, and cooking oil, avoid alcoholic drinks.
6. Adhere to a healthy eating habits and drink adequate amounts of water.
7. Learn nutrition labelling, shop wisely and cook smart.
8. Pay attention to diet hygiene, serve individual portions, and reduce food waste.

The key changes from the previous guidelines include encouraging people to increase their consumption of whole grains, seafood, and dairy, particularly milk products. The recommended amount of milk per day has increased from 300 grams to 300 to 500 grams, which is the only food in China’s latest dietary guidelines to significantly increase the recommended amount.

Fish and other seafoods are given prominence and recommended to eat twice a week. As the Chinese diet is heavier in meat, especially pork, seafood is preferable to consume due to its lower fat content, and fatty acids which are better for protecting the cardiovascular system.

The new version of the guidelines has raised the ‘salt reduction’ target, adjusted from <6g to <5g as excessive salt intake will increase the risk of diseases such as hypertension and stroke.

Key members of CHL China (including Alibaba local services, Beijing Hualian, Danone, Mengniu, Nestlé, New Hope Liuhe, RT-Mart, Suning-Carrefour, Unilever Food Solutions, Wumart) will partner with CNS to gather data, share results and follow-up on evidence building on the effects of raising nutrition awareness with shoppers in China. They will support China’s dietary guidelines though online and offline programmes with the objective to progress healthier baskets and raise awareness on the updated guidelines. CHL China, along with the CNS, will continue to work towards achieving the common goals of Healthy China 2030.