August 6, 2009
To improve the health of city residents, Beijing’s municipal government has announced the start of a new campaign called “Healthy Beijingers: a ten year project promoting public health.” The government aims to achieve multiple goals in ten years through initiatives focused on such issues as smoking, obesity, teeth care, and workplace wellness.
On the list of goals:
● Reduce the smoking rate for men from 57.7% to below 50%, and for women, from 4.7% to 4.0%.
● Increase the proportion of people who brush their teeth regularly to over 90%, and make sure that at least 70% of them will know the right way to brush their teeth (meaning moving the brush vertically across the teeth, upside down when brushing the upper teeth and the reverse when brushing the bottom ones). The average number of functioning teeth that can chew should be no fewer than 20 for people aged 65 to 74 (the current average is 15).
● Reduce the daily intake of salt from 13.4 grams to less than 10 grams.
● Reduce the daily intake of fat from 54.6 grams to less than 35 grams.
● Reduce the proportion of school students who are obese from 17.28% to 15%.
● Increase the average life span from 80.27 years to 81 years.
As part of the new fitness campaign, Beijing’s sport bureau has introduced a system of workplace gymnastic exercises. This is the story that The Beijing News featured as its top headline of the day.
According to feedback from a trial phase that included employees of government agencies and state-owned enterprises, many of the participants found twenty minutes of exercise was hard to achieve during work breaks. The bureau now suggests that the exercise be done before work. If that cannot be guaranteed, the bureau will urge workplaces to organize physical exercises over the weekends.
- The Beijing News (Chinese): Beijing’s employees need to do the office gymnastics