Big data to play role in better nutrition

Big data technologies will play a greater role in improving the health and nutrition of Chinese people in the next decade, a top health official said on Wednesday.

"We will promote the development of health and nutrition industries with the help of cloud computing, big data and the internet to provide customized services that are easy to access," Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference about a national nutrition plan.

"The public will have a brand-new experience of nutrition and health," Jin said. "They will enjoy more precise and customized guidance on nutrition and health in an environment of artificial intelligence.

For example, people can get up in the morning and get tips about their health, Jin said - how heavy a workload they can bear on that day and what they should have for lunch.

The commission is making plans to carry out the National Nutrition Plan (2017-30), which was released by the central government last week, Jin said.

The plan, which emerged amid various health challenges, including unhealthy lifestyles and an increase of nutrition-related diseases, sets targets for improving nutrition by 2020 and 2030.

The goals include reducing the incidence of anemia in pregnant women to below 10 percent by 2030 (from the 2015 level of 17 percent) and decreasing the percentage of children under 5 with stunted growth to below 5 percent.