Unbearable heaviness of unhealthy diets
The Ministry of Health says all prepackaged food sold in China must carry nutrition labels from Jan 1, 2013. The compulsory labels should indicate the volume of protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium the foods contain, as well as its energy value. The authority said the aim is to encourage consumers to balance their nutrition intake and reduce their risk of getting chronic diseases.
As Su Zhi, a senior official from the Ministry of Health said at a news conference: “China faces a severe situation of chronic non-communicable diseases and information on the packages will help consumers avoid the intake of unhealthy elements, such as saturated fat and cholesterol, and increase the ingestion of dietary fibres.”
Research has proved that compulsory nutrition labels effectively raise consumers’ awareness of healthy eating.
However, it is far from enough to merely order food companies to put such nutrition labels on their products. Only when Chinese people are aware of the importance of a healthy diet will they take the labels seriously and learn to know what and how to eat.
The Chinese diet is generally regarded as healthy. But nowadays it may not be as healthy as before and less healthy than people think. The average daily intake of grains per person in China dropped from 103.5 grams in 1982 to only 23.3 grams in 2002, while the amount of meat in people’s diets has risen dramatically.
Meanwhile many Chinese chefs believe that “no dish can be spoiled by oil” and “there is no magic recipe except a spoon of salt and a spoon of monosodium glutamate”. Many Chinese dishes are fried, even the famous “water-boiled fish” or “water-boiled meat” of Sichuan.
The popular China Central Television documentary series, A Bite of China, featured many little known local Chinese foods. Millions of viewers were tempted to try the foods, despite the fact that many of the highlighted foods were pickled and salted. Few people questioned whether the foods shown were healthy or not. It is interesting that people claim to care so much about the freshness of their food, but never stop to think if they are eating pickled meat.
Similarly, many traditional foods, such as sweet dumplings, rice dumplings and mooncakes, which are consumed in large amounts each year in China, are often rich in sugar and oil.
And it is not only what Chinese eat but also how they eat that may cause problems. Chinese people eat together and take food from the same plate so it is hard to know how much a person is actually eating.
The hardships of the past have also nurtured some unhealthy habits. Children are told to clean their plates, even if they are already full.
And traditionally, plump kids have been regarded as a sign that the family is living the good life, so continually feeding an only child is a popular pastime for parents and grandparents. But this has led to 8 percent of Chinese children becoming chronically obese and the nation is rapidly catching up with its Western counterparts in this regard. The proportion of the population that is overweight has soared from 7 percent in 1982 to about 30 percent today.
So, making Chinese people more aware of what they are eating and developing healthy eating habits is not only the health authority’s job but an urgent mission for everyone. Unless the nation addresses the issue it could end up like the United States, where about two-thirds of adults are overweight — a heavy burden for its medical insurance system.