Malnutrition in China

[OCguy]

The article does point out government efforts to alleviate such malnutrition in the rural areas. There is an accompanying article in this same current issue that talks about obesity at the other end of the socioeconomic scale among wealthy families in China. Talk about a double whammy!

China still has a long way to go, obviously.

I don't think that China isn't concerned about those left behind during their economic ascension, I may have worded that incorrectly. I think that more and massive measure will have to be implemented in order to have a large enough effect.

The sheer number of people, combined with the extreme pace of progress that has been experienced, make it a very difficult task.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

There is an accompanying article in this same current issue that talks about obesity at the other end of the socioeconomic scale among wealthy families in China. Talk about a double whammy!

Getting fat is not the ultimate cause of too much food or wealth. In Germany and even more so in the US, the fattest people are in most cases poor people because they eat cheap and unbalanced food due to financial difficultties.

 

[OCguy]

Getting fat is not the ultimate cause of too much food or wealth. In Germany and even more so in the US, the fattest people are in most cases poor people because they eat cheap and unbalanced food due to financial difficultties.

Input is only part of the story, as well. Throughput/output can balance excessive input. But as soon as you combine high-energy foods with a sedentary lifestyle, good-bye physique.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Input is only part of the story, as well. Throughput/output can balance excessive input. But as soon as you combine high-energy foods with a sedentary lifestyle, good-bye physique.

We have cases here in Germany, where families have enough money for 20 days of "normal" food. The rest of the month they rely on noodles with nothing. An almost 100% carbohydrate diet can only lead to obesity. Those poor families are also in most cases suffer unemployment and thus don't have to move much ... it's a vicious cycle.

 

[OCguy]

We have cases here in Germany, where families have enough money for 20 days of "normal" food. The rest of the month they rely on noodles with nothing. An almost 100% carbohydrate diet can only lead to obesity. Those poor families are also in most cases suffer unemployment and thus don't have to move much ... it's a vicious cycle.

Yes but running shoes are cheap. Barring a physical ailment, not using an equal amount of energy consumed is a personal choice, even if not a conscious one.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Yes but running shoes are cheap. Barring a physical ailment, not using an equal amount of energy consumed is a personal choice, even if not a conscious one.

As I said, it's a vicious cycle like the fat, poor and unemployed people that you also have in the US.

 

[OCguy]

As I said, it's a vicious cycle like the fat, poor and unemployed people that you also have in the US.

Exactly why I speak with such confidence on the subject.

 

[VCheng]

Getting fat is not the ultimate cause of too much food or wealth. In Germany and even more so in the US, the fattest people are in most cases poor people because they eat cheap and unbalanced food due to financial difficultties.

This is the accompanying article I referred to earlier:

Obesity: Chubby little emperors | The Economist


Obesity
Chubby little emperors
Why China is under- and over-nourished at the same time
From the print edition

MORE than 2,000 years ago “Huangdi Neijing”, a classic Chinese medical text, identified obesity as a disease caused by eating too much “fatty meats and polished grains”. Until a generation ago such a diet was an extravagance beyond imagination for all but the elite. But the Chinese waistline has since expanded, and at an alarming rate.

More than a quarter of the adult population, or roughly 350m people, is overweight or obese (more than 60m squeeze into the latter camp). That is at least twice as many as are under-nourished. With rising incomes and more diverse diets, Chinese people are consuming much more fatty food and fizzy drinks. Meals now contain more than twice as much oil and meats as in the 1980s.

This is producing a health calamity, both in heart disease (which now accounts for over a third of deaths) and in a less-noticed explosion of diabetes, which is closely linked to obesity. The prevalence of diabetes has grown more than tenfold during the past three decades. According to a recent national survey, 11.6% of Chinese adults are diabetic, a share almost as high as in America, whose obesity rate is much greater.

With a catastrophic famine still in living memory, it is little surprise that Chinese people have developed a taste for foods rich in fats and sugars. Fan Zhihong of the Chinese Nutrition Society says people who lived through the famine of the Great Leap Forward and the food shortages of the Cultural Revolution were keen to stop eating the coarse grains of the “dark old days” and have acquired a taste for refined grains and flour which are accomplices to diabetes. Xiang Hongding, a diabetes doctor at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, says “some felt they’d better eat the good food now before it’s too late.” Nearly one in five Chinese aged 60 years and over is diabetic, twice the national rate.

The Chinese are not actually eating more as they get richer: the average daily intake has dropped a little over the past ten years, from 2,100 calories in 2002 to a little more than 2,000 today. This suggests that a sedentary lifestyle may be hurting people’s health as much as changes in diet. Rapid urbanisation means more people are leaving the fields to work in less strenuous manufacturing jobs. Meanwhile in the cities, walking and biking have been replaced by driving cars and sitting on public transport. Recent surveys show that less than 10% of urban dwellers exercise regularly.

Childhood obesity has grown hugely in richer coastal cities. During summer breaks parents send off their pudgy little emperors to weight-loss camps that have sprung up everywhere. The exam-oriented education system doesn’t help matters either: although schools are required to set aside at least an hour for exercise every day, they routinely cancel gym classes to make room for other courses. In May the Lancet, a medical journal, published a study showing that the obesity rate among Chinese boys is 6.9%, almost twice as high as that among adult men.

Perhaps the most surprising consequence of urbanisation is that obesity is expanding even faster in rural China than in the cities. Households on the fringes of cities are especially vulnerable: with farmland sold for development, many dispossessed farmers now spend their days sitting around and eating fatty meals. In 2012 public-health experts gave a warning that villages around Beijing might soon see their diabetes rates surpass rates in the capital. In the same year a report by the health ministry showed that, from 2005 to 2010, toddlers in rural areas were getting overweight or obese faster than toddlers in cities. Yet under-nutrition was not disappearing. Rural rates of underweight and stunted children were still persistently three to four times higher than among their urban counterparts.

That means the countryside is under-nourished and over-nourished at the same time. One is better than the other. But with spending on diabetes accounting for $25 billion in 2010, or 13% of the bills for health, over-nourishment is still an extravagance China can ill afford.

From the print edition: China

 

[Okemos]

Blah blah blah, I am always suspicious of any nutritional science. One day, the nutritional scientists are telling protein is good, the next day, no, protein is bad, all veggie diet is best! lol

Plus, the data about nutrition are very hard to collect and compile. I just don't trust this type of research on intelligence, cognitive behaviors. Too much assumption. I would rather see objective data such as weight, height, disease incidences.

Honestly, I don't blame the parents that refuse to take those so called supplements. If I were parent, I would hell not listen to the government officials to feed some supplements to my baby.

To the people who are voicing their nutritional knowledge, I wonder how fit you guys actually are, lol.

 

[xunzi]

Do you have any data to show that malnutrition is not a problem now?

 

[xunzi]

China will at some point have to address its extreme rural poverty. Any developing nation is going to have its extremes in wealth and economic status, but social programs have to come into play at some point.
The data isn't from 2014, because the Chinese government isn't exactly open about things that may be perceived as negative. And the average Chinese cannot access information that isn't controlled.

Can you stop your stinking mouth with your worthless criticism of our fight on poverty. We have publish and many programs are there to fight poverty and malnutrition. It takes time to cure over 1.3 billion people you know?

Does it looks we are hiding from you, the great superpower of the WORLD! LOL

120 Million Chinese Suffer from Malnutrition
About 120 million Chinese people suffer from malnutrition and the country's poverty problems are still pressing, said Vice Agriculture Minister Zhang Baowen at a conference to mark the 23rd World Food Day on Thursday.


As the world most populous nation, China had taken a series of measures to feed its people well. In 1996, China's food production exceeded 500 million tons for the first time. Output of major agricultural products met demand and even provided a surplus in bumper harvests.


Statistics show the country's poor population had decreased from 250 million in 1978 to 28.2 million in 2002.


However, China's anti-poverty and anti-hunger programs were still seriously challenged by population growth, lack of land and water resources, and erosion and desertification, said Zhang at the conference in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province.


Gamal M. Ahmed, representative of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in China, Mongolia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), said all countries should take concrete measures to eliminate poverty and hunger, and to safeguard the basic human right to nutrition.


Statistics show 840 million people around the world suffer from poverty and malnutrition, with 799 million in developing nations.


In 1979, FAO decided to start an annual World Food Day, which has fallen on Oct. 16 since 1981. The 2003 World Food Day theme is "International Alliance Against Hunger."


(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2003)


Fighting child malnutrition in rural China

© UNICEF/China/2012/Jerry Liu
Grandmother is feeding little Han a bowl of porridge enriched with a packet of essential micro-nutrients.
13 March 2013, Beijing, China - Little Han is having her breakfast. Her older brother, too shy to share his own name, stands close by, wearing the typical white skull cap of the Hui ethnic group. Mouthful by mouthful, he watches intently, as his sister is spoon-fed by their Grandmother. Breakfast is a bowl of porridge which has been enriched with a small foil packet of essential nutrients.

Known as Ying Yang Bao, the contents of these amazing packets are mixed into the first solid foods that young children begin to eat.

One Ying Yang Bao sachet per day provides a powerful mixture of essential vitamins, minerals and protein that are often missing in the local diet. Specially formulated for children 6-24 months old, these micro-nutrients will significantly improve Han’s growth and nutrition.

In Qinghai Province, where the Han family resides, the prevalence of anemia among children from 6 months to 2 years old is astonishingly high at more than 70 per cent.

Local health teams have visited the Han household a number of times to explain the benefits of Ying Yang Bao. Grandmother Han is convinced that little Han will grow “taller and do better in school than her big brother,” pointing to the young boy.

Noticing that attention has shifted towards him, little Han’s brother flees. He is 9-years-old and stands barely 1.2 meter tall.

After comparing the height of the young boy with that of his grandmother, UNICEF Health Specialist Robert Scherpbier concludes, “This is not because of genetic reasons. The boy is definitely suffering from malnutrition, and very likely he’s stunted.”

12.7 million MalnourishedA little known malady in China, stunting is the irreversible outcome of chronic nutritional deficiency during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, starting from conception. The effects of chronic malnutrition become a life sentence of stunting, and that child will most likely never learn, nor earn, as much as he or she could have if properly nourished in early life.

In China, there are an estimated 12.7 million stunted children, a population the size of Tokyo. In poor rural communities in China’s central and western provinces, one out of 10 children under 5 is stunted.

© UNICEF/China/2012/Jerry Liu
Little Han's elder brother (right) is 9-years-old and stands barely 1.2 meter tall. It is likely that he is stunted due to malnutrition during his first two years of life.
UNICEF has been supporting intensive efforts on finding solutions.

Pilot projects in cooperation with the Ministry of Health have demonstrated the effectiveness of Ying Yang Bao, a simple easy-to-use complementary food supplement, in preventing and controlling childhood malnutrition.

From 2008-2011, UNICEF distributed Ying Yang Bao to mothers and babies in 8 counties in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces benefitting of more than 30,000 rural children. The rate of childhood anemia in these counties was reduced by as much as 50 per cent. They also saw reduction of overall childhood malnutrition

Qinghai campaignIn 2011, the Qinghai provincial government, in a landmark decision, announced that it would scale-up Ying Yang Bao distribution to improve infant and young child feeding in 15 of its poorest counties. Hualong County, where the little Han and her family reside, is one of the counties in the campaign.

"Ying Yang Bao will benefit a lot of families in my county,” said Ms An Hongbing, deputy county governor of Hualong.

Hualong has a per capita income of RMB 3,000. The Hui-majority autonomous county is located on the Tibetan plateau. With an altitude of 1,800 to 4,400 meters, farming is very difficult. One hundred thousand Hualong residents have immigrated to coastal cities, where many operate beef noodle shops under the recognized brand of Lanzhou Beef Noodle. The money they send home constitutes half of the county’s income.

Back home, noodles without beef and porridge are the staple foods. For an average rural family in Hualong, potato is almost their sole source of vegetable. Beef and mutton are only consumed during rare festive occasions.

Many families cannot afford to keep any sheep or cattle, therefore both milk and meat can be rarely found on the dining table.

"Babies eat the same food as their mothers after breastfeeding stops – we all know there is not enough nutrition for them, but we didn’t know what to do,” said Dr. Wang Chunhua, from the township hospital,. She has delivered over 500 babies during her 10 years’ service in Hualong.

©UNICEF/China/2012/Jerry Liu
Grandmother Han is very confident that her baby girl will grow stronger and taller because her diet has been enriched with essential micro-nutrients.

Improving impactFollowing Qinghai’s initiation of the Ying Yang Bao pilot project, the lessons learned from UNICEF’s earlier trials in other provinces have been applied to ensure the effectiveness of the programme here.

One lesson is the importance of efficient distribution and handling of the Ying Yang Bao from production to household. County hospitals build warehouses and township hospitals build storerooms for the storage of Ying Yang Bao. At the beginning of each month, a 30-day supply of Ying Yang Bao is transported to village clinics and distributed to each family by the village health workers who also promote the daily consumption of Ying Yang Bao.

UNICEF also supports training on weaning food supplementation in county and township hospitals. Subsequently, the trainees become trainers for the village doctors. There is a monthly face-to-face session and discussion in the township hospital. Every other month, the county doctors will visit villages for field inspection.

In little Han’s family yard, a colorful poster with illustrations of Ying Yang Bao with a growth monitoring chart are put in a significant place on the wall facing south. Every day Grandmother Han will tick on the chart after feeding her granddaughter. “It is certain the baby girl will grow stronger and taller,” she says with confidence.

By Liang Ruoqiao

 

[VCheng]

Poverty is very different than malnutrition. Reduction in poverty has not eliminated malnutrition in China.

 

[xunzi]

Poverty is very different than malnutrition. Reduction in poverty has not eliminated malnutrition in China.

Malnutrition is a problem of trust and a lack of educational knowledge. It has NOTHING to do with our government inability and our people not caring, or desire, has ambition, and DETERMINATION to eliminate poverty and malnutrition COMPLETELY. We have set a goal for our people that we want ZERO PERCENTAGE Poverty in the 21st century. We have increased our fight on poverty and billion of dollar were spent annually to set up schools, hospitals, and such. In fact, our development goal right now is to develop the Western region to the fullest extend of our ability. The lack of water and land erosion are the MAIN problem we are trying to tackle. Give me a break with your nonsense. We don't need the world to feel sympathy for our people. We do it ourselves.

 

[OCguy]

Can you stop your stinking mouth with your worthless criticism of our fight on poverty. We have publish and many programs are there to fight poverty and malnutrition. It takes time to cure over 1.3 billion people you know?

Wanting to be a major world player comes with less desirable recognition as well. You suddenly find everyone discussing what was once private domestic issues. If you found my post to be combative or malicious, you are going to have very high blood pressure in the years to come. It is only getting started, believe me.

But what you posted as evidence is actually the Chinese government's media outlet, which has only one main goal.

You can't possibly take anything it says seriously after reading this quote, can you?

Statistics show the country's poor population had decreased from 250 million in 1978 to 28.2 million in 2002.

28.2 million poor? A full third of the population is below the poverty line, living on less than $2.5 per day.


If you read my whole post, you would have seen me say that China is not some crazy country trying to starve the population. I acknowledged the struggle that any society would have balancing the huge economic growth and massive population.

Not everything is an attack.

 

[xunzi]

Wanting to be a major world player comes with less desirable recognition as well. You suddenly find everyone discussing what was once private domestic issues. If you found my post to be combative or malicious, you are going to have very high blood pressure in the years to come. It is only getting started, believe me.

But what you posted as evidence is actually the Chinese government's media outlet, which has only one main goal.

You can't possibly take anything it says seriously after reading this quote, can you?

You don't get it, do you? I have a problem with your nonsense saying we are trying to hide our poverty despite the fact we have published yearly report on poverty and the programs along with it. In fact, our government have always classified ourselves as "DEVELOPING COUNTRY". Do we need to announce it for more clarity?

Now you said the Chinese government's media outlet publication on poverty is part of a malicious plan to fool the world? LOLOL This is why we never going to win with your US propaganda. If we talk too much about poverty, you call us trying to manipulate for world sympathy. If we talk too little, you call us trying to hide our dirty hand. LOL

28.2 million poor? A full third of the population is below the poverty line, living on less than $2.5 per day.

We got 1.3 billion people and only a time frame of 30 years of peaceful development. Give us TIME. That all we ask of you. Can you do that, my friend?

If you read my whole post, you would have seen me say that China is not some crazy country trying to starve the population. I acknowledged the struggle that any society would have balancing the huge economic growth and massive population.

Not everything is an attack.

This is not an attack? The data isn't from 2014, because the Chinese government isn't exactly open about things that may be perceived as negative

Do I need to provide you with direct words from our leadership that we are still consider developing and that anti-poverty programs are still an obstacle? That we are still at war with poverty?

China shows determination in fighting poverty - China.org.cn