Are the Chinese Moving toward a Healthy Diet? Evidence from Macro Data from 1961 to 2017

Aixi Han, Tianhao Sun, Jing Ming, Li Chai and Xiawei Liao
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Aixi Han: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Tianhao Sun: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Jing Ming: School of Atmospheric Sciences, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China
Li Chai: International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Xiawei Liao: School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, University Town, Shenzhen 518055, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: The change in diet structure is one of the critical features of social transformation, and diet structure is directly related to human health. In China, with rapid economic development, changes in the diet structure of the population have begun and are proceeding at a fairly rapid rate. In order to reveal how the Chinese diet is approaching or deviating from the nutritional goal, a novel index, NDBI (National Dietary Balance Index), is developed in this study to investigate the Chinese diet from 1961 to 2017 at a national level. The results show that the Chinese diet has transitioned from the under-intake stage to the over-intake stage. Before the 1980s, Chinese people ate all foods inadequately except staple foods; after the 1980s, the issue of under-intake began to fade, and the intake of meats even became excessive. The intake of staple foods is always excessive during this period. Currently, the Chinese diet is still unhealthy because of the inadequate intake of dairy products and the excessive intake of staple foods and meats. By evaluating diet structure on a national level, this study can help people to better understand how the Chinese diet deviated from the nutritional goal and provides information for policymakers intervening in China’s food consumption.

Keywords: healthy diet; food consumption; diet balance index; dietary guidelines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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