China Rolls Out Ambitious Weight-Loss Plan
A day after an international research team predicted China could be home to as many as 630 million overweight and obese people by 2050, the country’s National Health Commission announced a major new initiative aimed at tipping the scales back toward healthier lifestyles.
Announced by NHC director Lei Haichao during China’s annual “Two Sessions” legislative meetings, the initiative will create multidisciplinary “weight management clinics” at hospitals across China, tasked with helping patients cut unwanted pounds safely.
The clinics “will provide a professional consultation environment and platform for residents struggling with weight issues, helping them better manage their weight and lead healthier lives,” Lei said.
Obesity has skyrocketed in China over the past 40 years, as people eat more and exercise less. The proportion of overweight men almost doubled in a single generation.
By 2021, China was home to more than 400 million adults classified as overweight or obese, more than double the total of India or the United States, according to a study published Saturday in the prestigious journal The Lancet. That number is projected to rise to 630 million by 2050.
Numerous studies have linked higher weights with increased risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, fatty liver, cancer, and even cognitive decline.
“The primary risk factors and diseases threatening the health of the Chinese population today still stem from chronic non-communicable diseases,” Lei said in his speech announcing the initiative.
Internationally, obesity is commonly determined using the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated as a person’s weight divided by the square of their height.
In China, a BMI over 24 is classified as overweight, while obesity is defined as a BMI exceeding 28. Based on this standard, a person who is 175 centimeters tall would be considered overweight if their weight exceeds 73.5 kilograms and obese at 86 kilograms.
In recent years, regions along China’s more developed coast, including Shanghai, Guangdong, and Shandong, have set up weight management clinics in local hospitals.
Operating under various names, including “weight loss clinics” and “obesity and metabolic comprehensive clinics,” they offer patients a mix of cutting-edge science, nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine, and psychology.
Shanghai’s Tenth People’s Hospital set up an Obesity Diagnosis and Treatment Center in July 2024, while the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center launched a “Multidisciplinary Weight Loss and Metabolism Clinic” in January 2024.
“In regions with high public health awareness, such as Beijing and Shanghai, there is a strong demand for weight management clinics,” Wang Jialu, a nutritionist at Renji Hospital in Shanghai, told Sixth Tone. “(But) professionals may be unevenly distributed across different medical institutions. In general, top-tier hospitals are better equipped both in terms of personnel and facilities to operate these clinics.”
Obesity rates have spiked in rural areas and less-developed regions in recent years, straining local medical systems. A 2023 study found that the BMIs of rural Chinese have begun to catch up to their urban peers since 2005.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media has been flooded with ads for everything from extreme — and sometimes deadly — weight-loss camps to direct sales of appetite-suppressing drugs.
Policymakers have responded by issuing new treatment guidelines and approving novel therapies, such as prescription of semaglutide, an anti-diabetic drug with appetite suppressant qualities.
“Professional doctors and nutritionists can provide systematic and individualized support to help target groups,” Wang said. “This prevents individuals from attempting unregulated weight loss, which can negatively impact their health.”
Yet difficulties remain. “Ensuring that target groups adhere to follow-up visits has always been a challenge in our field, which may require further public education and awareness campaigns,” Wang said. “On the policy level, it is essential to establish standardized treatment guidelines, set unified pricing standards, and determine how medical insurance coverage can be applied.”
So far, the clinics are the biggest development to come out of the NHC initiative. At a press conference, NHC director Lei also urged various industries to support the weight loss initiative, such as by adding scales to hotel rooms and improving public education.
(Header image: VCG)
