Unhealthy eating weighs heavily on country

The National Health Commission recently issued a report on nutrition in which it warns that more than half of the adults, and 20 percent of those aged between 6 and 17 in the country are overweight or obese, and chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and fatty liver, are becoming public health threats.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a National Nutrition Plan (2017-30) in 2017 to improve national nutrition and health. The plan requires governments and public health departments of various levels to improve their regulations and standards on national nutrition, promote legislation and policy and scientific research, develop technologies, and strengthen monitoring and assessment to prevent nutrition-related diseases, and inspire the people to adopt healthy lifestyles.

However, the public's awareness on healthy cooking and nutrition-balanced meals the plan advocates remains weak in general, as the consumption of oil, salt and sugar in processed foods in the country is still high.