Shenyang nutrition plan to boost public health

The Implementation Plan of Shenyang National Nutrition Plan (2018-2030) was released on the municipal government's website on May 19.

According to the plan, Shenyang will take seven actions to improve residents' nutrition, with a focus on the first 1,000 days of life. Other areas of focus include nutrition for students, the elderly and the poor, as well as the promotion of healthy lifestyles for all. 

It will gradually reduce and control the rising trend of student obesity, support public medical institutions to establish nutrition departments and establish mother and child rooms in public places, businesses and institutions.

The plan proposes that by 2030, Shenyang will establish a more complete nutrition system. It will further reduce the anemia rate of key populations and aims for an increase of 10 percent in the breastfeeding rate for infants aged 0-6 months by 2020. 

With the new plan, differences in height between urban and rural students should be lower on average, and the rising trend of student obesity should be checked.

The screening of inpatients for malnutrition and proportion of patients receiving treatment for malnutrition should increase under the plan. 

With the implementation of the plan, the number of people who receive education about nutrition should have increased around 10 percent by 2020. The number of primary and middle school students who have been educated about nutrition should increase by 15 percent.

Per capita daily salt intake should decrease by 20 percent and the growth rate in the number of overweight and obese people should slow down significantly.  

Second-tier or above public medical institutions will be obligated to establish clinical nutrition departments and be equipped with proper facilities.

The plan also states that Shenyang should formulate and improve related policies for nutrition and health, establish a nutrition and health steering committee, strengthen training for nutrition personnel and promote qualified schools, kindergartens and pension institutions to equip or hire nutritionists.

Meanwhile, Shenyang will strengthen the sharing of basic data about nutrition and health, promote the “Internet + nutrition and health” service, launch pilot projects of big data applications and develop health products such as mobile nutrition terminals.