Only more than 20% of people drink milk ＂up to standard＂. What are the obstacles that affect Chinese’s drinking milk？
The latest edition of Dietary Guidelines for China Residents 2022 updated the recommendation on milk consumption, and the recommended daily milk consumption of residents was revised from 300g in 2016 to 300-500g.
However, the 2022 China Dairy Merchants Index Report (hereinafter referred to as the Report) released today (June 13th) found that in the past five years, the public’s knowledge and behavior of drinking milk have been continuously improved, but in 2022, the public’s average daily intake of dairy products was 255 ml. Only 24.2% people consume more than 300ml of dairy products every day.
The report also found that the "milk population" who can insist on daily intake of dairy products accounts for about a quarter of China’s population. At present, most of Chinese has not formed the habit of drinking milk every day. So, what are the obstacles that affect Chinese’s drinking milk?
China Dairy Merchants Index Report 2022.
Why are dietary guidelines updated?
"Dairy products contain high-quality protein. Among natural foods, calcium in milk is the most beneficial for human body to absorb." Chen Wei is the chief physician of the Nutrition Department of Union Medical College Hospital. He told reporters that milk is an excellent food source for calcium intake. With the improvement of living standards of Chinese people, the recommended intake is also "rising". Some studies at home and abroad also found that the lack of dairy intake may be related to some chronic diseases. For health reasons, Dietary Guidelines for China Residents 2022 advocates that China residents should consume more dairy products.
"Dietary Guide" is a guiding document that transforms the existing evidence research on dietary nutrition and health into a balanced diet based on food according to the food production and supply and the actual living conditions of residents, so as to help people make scientific food choices, rationally match meals, promote health and prevent and reduce the occurrence of nutrition-related diseases.
The recommended amount of calcium intake varies from country to country. In 2022, researchers from School of Public Health of Harbin Medical University published articles in Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine. Taking the recommended amount of calcium for adults in various countries as an example, the United States, Britain, Northern Europe and the European Union were 1000 mg/day, 700 mg/day, 800 mg/day and 950mg/ day respectively. Except for the actual intake level in the United States, the actual calcium intake in other countries was higher than the recommended amount.
In East Asia, the recommended amount of calcium for Japanese adults is 660mg/ day for women and 738mg/ day for men. According to the 2019 Japan National Health and Nutrition Survey, the average calcium intake of residents is about 560mg/ day, which is slightly lower than the recommended amount. The recommended amount of dietary calcium for adults in China is 800mg/ day, but the actual intake is only 366.1mg/ day, which is significantly lower than the recommended amount. The researchers believe that it is suggested that there may be a general lack of calcium intake among Chinese residents.
Before the latest revision of the 2022 version of the dietary guidelines for China residents was released, the China Nutrition Society organized experts to complete the Scientific Research Report on Dietary Guidelines for China Residents in order to find evidence for revising the dietary guidelines.
In the part about dairy products, the "Research Report" puts forward that "the average intake of milk by Chinese residents has been at a low level, and the consumption rate of milk and its products in all groups is low, and the consumption rate of children and adolescents is higher than that of adults, and the consumption of all groups is lower than the recommended intake level. Insufficient milk intake is the main reason for the high proportion of calcium intake by Chinese residents."
Among them, the nutrition and health problems of the elderly population are not optimistic. According to the data of the above-mentioned "research report", the proportion of insufficient calcium intake among the elderly is higher than 80%, and the problem of malnutrition among the elderly in rural areas is more prominent.
On June 13th, the 2022 Dairy Business Index report was released online.
The habit of drinking milk has yet to be formed
"The value of the recommended amount is given through a large sample epidemiological investigation and expert argumentation." For the update of dietary guidelines for China residents, Zuo Xiaoxia, director of the Nutrition Department of the Eighth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital, said that this was based on the actual situation and "try to be in line with international standards."
In the "Research Report", the expert group also combed the recommended values of dietary guidelines for milk and dairy products in some countries and regions. Among them, the recommended amount in Japan is 200ml, that in the United States is about 710ml, that in Australia is 300-750ml, and that in Hong Kong, China is 480ml for men and 240-480ml for women. The recommended intake of dairy products in Asian countries is generally lower than that in Europe and America.
In order to understand the changes of China people’s knowledge, behavior and habit of drinking milk, since 2018, China Dairy Industry Association, China Association for the Promotion of International Exchanges in Health Care and Royal Dutch Friesland have jointly launched a survey called "China Dairy Merchants Index Report". Yang Guochao, Vice Chairman of China Dairy Industry Association and Senior Vice President of Royal Friesland of the Netherlands, said that the China Dairy Merchants Index Report over the years has not only objective data, but also a forward-looking perspective and novel views, which has attracted the attention of all sectors of society. Through the annual survey of dairy merchants, we can understand the present situation of Chinese people drinking milk, find out the problems and try to explore solutions.
It is worth mentioning that in the five-year survey, the dairy quotient index of China has increased from 60.6% in 2018 to 63.2% in 2022. Experts believe that the public’s knowledge of drinking milk is gradually enriched, and the behavior of drinking milk is gradually improving, which is the result of various factors such as economic income growth, improvement of living standards and popularization of scientific knowledge.
However, the challenge that cannot be ignored is that in 2022, the public’s daily intake of dairy products will reach the standard rate (that is, the average daily intake ≥ 300ml) is only 24.2%. Although it is slightly improved compared with 22.5% in 2018, the compliance rate is still very low. "This shows that the dairy merchants of the people in our country still need to be improved." Zuo Xiaoxia said.
Consumers buy dairy products in a supermarket in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province. Xinhua news agency
What prevents Chinese from eating more dairy products?
Chen Wei, chief physician of the Nutrition Department of Union Medical College Hospital, believes that dairy products have not yet achieved all-round popularization on the dining table of China residents. He believes that this has a historical background. For a long time, most residents in China have taken plants and herbs as their main sources of nutrition, while milk food has not yet entered most people’s living habits.
"The public has not yet regarded dairy products as an indispensable part of life. We eat rice and pasta every day, but few people think that we can’t do it without drinking milk for a day." Chen Wei said.
Moreover, China residents’ natural reaction to dairy products intake is to drink milk. In fact, the nutrition of cheese is not bad at all. For example, the calcium content of milk is about 104mg/100g, and the calcium content of cheese is 799 mg/100 g.
The report of dairy merchants also puts forward, "According to 10 kilograms of milk ≈ In terms of 1 kg of cheese, eating more cheese helps children reach the standard of daily dairy intake of 300-500g g. " Infants over one year old can try to eat cheese, try to choose pasteurized natural cheese with low sodium content, and cut it into small pieces when eating to prevent choking.
Drinking milk scientifically starts with dolls, and many kindergartens in Beijing set up training courses for dairy merchants.
How to correctly ingest dairy products?
Chen Wei believes that the public also has a misunderstanding in understanding, as if when it comes to drinking milk to supplement nutrition, it will think of teenagers, the elderly and pregnant women. "It seems that among these three groups of people, dairy products (especially solid milk) are more accepted, and everyone is more willing to take the initiative to supplement them." Chen Wei believes that in fact, the intake of dairy products by adults can not be ignored, which also shows that the general public has not yet developed a habit.
Apart from the fact that eating habits are difficult to change in a short period of time, another factor that affects China residents’ milk intake is that there are many misunderstandings about dairy products.
For example, are lactose intolerant people completely unable to consume dairy products? Lactose intolerance mainly refers to people’s inability to effectively digest lactose in milk when they ingest it, resulting in abdominal distension, nausea, diarrhea and other problems. The root cause of this phenomenon is the lack of lactase.
The incidence of lactose intolerance is really high among people in China who have no habit of drinking milk. Chen Wei emphasized that lactose intolerance should be distinguished from milk allergy, which are two different reactions. Milk allergy is an allergic reaction to milk protein, and its symptoms include laryngeal edema and even systemic immune response, which often have more serious symptoms and require medical intervention.
According to the survey of dairy merchants, more than half of the public have been able to recommend lactose-free or low-lactose dairy products for lactose intolerance around them. However, about 10% of the public still have misunderstandings about lactose intolerance and think that they can’t eat any dairy products.
People who are lactose intolerant should not give up dairy products. Chen Wei suggested that people who are lactose intolerant can choose yogurt and cheese. Most of the lactose in these products is used by lactic acid bacteria, and the lactose content is low. In fact, some dairy products specially for lactose intolerant people have been developed in the market, such as lactose-free milk developed for Asians.
In addition, "if the value of dairy products is recognized, lactose intolerant people can slowly try to gradually increase from less to more when drinking milk, and slowly adapt the intestines." Chen Wei said.
Another misunderstanding is that many people think that milk drinks and some milk tea on the market can also be the sources of dairy products. China Residents’ Dietary Guidelines Scientific Research Report 2021 also mentioned that the sales volume of sugary drinks is increasing year by year, and 42.1% of the free sugar intake of urban people comes from sugary drinks and milk drinks. The consumption rate of sugary drinks and beverages among children and adolescents is above 30% and 25%, which is significantly higher than that of adults. At present, the average level of sugar intake of Chinese residents is not high, and the proportion of people whose energy supply ratio exceeds 10% is 1.95, but the consumption rate of sugary drinks of children and adolescents is higher than that of adults, and the energy supply ratio of sugar for children aged 3-5 is as high as 4.8%, which should be paid enough attention to.
Written by Southern Reporter Wu Bin from Beijing.