China's health authority and All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) jointly kicked off a public campaign advising citizens to consume a quarter kilogram of fruits and half a kilo of vegetables everyday. The dietary balance campaign will be launched in several cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province and Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to a statement issued by the (NHFPC) over the weekend. Unbalanced diet results in people becoming overweight, obese and a rise in chronic disease, Wu Liangyou, an NHFPC official, said in the statement. The campaign followed the "2015 Report on Chinese Nutrition and Chronic Disease," released by the NHFPC on June 30, which highlighted the alarming rate of increasing waistlines. The average weight of men is 66.2 kilograms and 57.3 kilogram for women, some two to three kilograms heavier than in 2002, said the report. "The obesity rate among adults was 11.9 percent in 2012, a rise of 67.6 percent from 2002, and 6.4 percent among children and adolescents, a rate tripling that of 2002," the statement said. The average Chinese person consumes an excessive amount of fat which accounts for more than 30 percent of their energy intake, while their consumption of vegetables and fruits is decreasing. The campaign belongs to an annual public health initiative jointly held by the NHFPC and ACJA which focuses on one risk factor of chronic disease each year. Some 25.2 percent of Chinese adults suffer from hypertension and 9.7 percent from diabetes, both higher than 2002 levels.
South China's's health authority and All-South China's Journalists Association (ACJA) jointly kicked off a public campaign advising citizens to consume a quarter kilogram of fruits and half a kilo of vegetables everyday. The campaign followed the "2015 Report on Chinese Nutrition and Chronic Disease," released by the NHFPC on June 30, which highlighted the alarming rate of increasing waistlines.