China issues national nutrition plan (2017-2030)

The State Council issued a plan (2017-2030) to improve national nutrition and health on July 13.

The plan sets detailed goals for 2020 and 2030 such as cutting anemia rates among children under five years old and pregnant women, cutting the prevalence of stunted growth among children under five years old, and raising the breast-feeding rate among infants under six months old.

The plan also sets goals to cut the gap between rural and urban students’ height, control students’ obesity rate and promote nutritional therapy among patients in hospital.

Regulations and standards on national nutrition should be improved, according to the plan, including nutritional management and monitoring, standards of diet nutrition intake, nutrition surveys and food safety. Legislation and policy research in this field should also be promoted.

Scientific research on nutrition should be increased. Nutrition intake research should be based on the data from Chinese people instead of foreigners’ data. Technologies and strategies to prevent nutrition-related diseases should be developed. Training of nutrition professionals should also be strengthened.

Monitoring and assessment should be strengthened regarding people’s nutritional and health conditions, food ingredient and consumption, and the intake of iodine.

Nutritional agriculture products should be developed, especially organic, green and pollution-free food, as well as double-protein food. Healthy cooking and nutrition-balanced catering are also being promoted. The use of oil, salt and sugar in processed foods should be controlled.

Preserving health with diet should be promoted by publicizing health food knowledge, conducting effective assessments on traditional health-preserving food, and developing modern health-preserving food products.

Data on national nutrition and health should be collected and shared and the information system should be built. Data should be analyzed and applied scientifically, in order to promote effective government policies and public services.

Nutrition and health knowledge should be spread and popularized. Guidelines on people’s diets should be made based on habits of different groups. Rumors and pseudoscience should be cracked down on.

According to the plan, special programs will be launched, targeting the nutrition of infants, pregnant women, students, the elderly, patients in hospital and people living in poorer regions. A program will also be launched to promote healthy lifestyles, especially the balance between food and exercise.