HONG KONG: Chinese scientists have recommended a region-specific diet they say is crucial to improving eating habits in the country amid a rise in obesity and lifestyle diseases, and as a means to conserve natural and environmental resources.
China in October published its first set of guidelines to standardise the diagnosis and treatment of obesity, with more than half of China`s adults already overweight and obese, and the rate expected to keep rising.
The government has said that healthier diets are important to treat and prevent obesity.
A group of scientists from the School of Public Health at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, in China`s affluent south-ern Guangdong province, said its study adheres to a `Planetary Health Diet` and advocates a reduced consumption of dairy products and red meat.
Published in the Nature Food journal in August and reported in state media last week, the study recommended that in China`s north, which is characterised by a high intake of dairy products but low consumption of vegetables, people need to eat more fruits and whole grains.
In the southwest, which has a harsher environment and severe water scarcity, the region could focus on a high intake of legumes and vegetables rather than its existing very high consumption of red meat, the study said.
