China Focus: Sugar reduction in kids, good diet importance to wellbeing, health supplements celebrity ban and more feature in our round-up

Sugar strategy: Cutting sugar-sweetened beverage intake helps lower BMI in schoolchildren – China RCT​

Lowering the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) while increasing parental and school health advice could help reduce childhood weight gain, according to a new study from China.

To examine the effects of reducing SSB consumption on body mass index (BMI) z-score (measure of weight adjusted for height based on sex and age) of schoolchildren, a randomised controlled trial was conducted in four primary schools in Nanjing, China, from September 2019 to September 2020.

The ‘Reduced Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Is Associated with Lower Body Mass Index Z-Score Gain among Chinese Schoolchildren’​ study involved 1,633 participants with an average age of 9.36 years.

Sleep quality, cognitive, immune health are top wellbeing concerns – Fonterra survey​

Consumers are most concerned about sleep quality, cognitive and immune health when it comes to taking care of their wellbeing, a new survey from Fonterra’s health and wellbeing brand Nutiani has found.

Sleep quality was the most voted health aspect, with four in five respondents (82 per cent) prioritising sleep quality as important to their wellbeing.

A breakdown of the data from Asia showed consumers in China tend to associate good health with cognitive function, such as the ability to think clearly.

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China celeb ban: No celebrity endorsement allowed for health supplements - SAMR​

Health supplements brands are prohibited from engaging celebrities to endorse their products, the Chinese authorities have again warned, in a move which an expert says is targeted at a ‘grey area’ for overseas brands.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced the above, alongside six other regulatory bodies, including the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Radio and Television Administration, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and the China Film Administration.

JD Health reveals popular nutrition categories, brands, and products in China this Double 11​

Nutrition products for gut, liver, eye health and sports have recorded strong growth during this year’s Double 11 shopping festival, says China’s leading e-commerce platform JD Health.

In the first four hours of the online sales event – said to be the peak of the event, transaction volume of nutrition and supplement products was 120 per cent higher than that of last year.

Calcium innovation: Junlebao’s new adult powder aims to improve bio-accessibility and bioavailability​

China dairy firm Junlebao has launched a new milk powder targeted at supporting calcium absorption in middle and old-aged consumers, and hopes to rejuvenate the well-established category by improving bio-accessibility and bioavailability.

Known as Le Gai (乐钙), the milk formula is said to contain twice as much calcium as the usual whole milk powder with 1,200mg of calcium per 100g of milk powder.

Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia, ​Celia Ning, director of the Nutrition Research Institute at Junlebao, said that the product was designed to more effectively increase calcium uptake among Chinese seniors – most of whom are consuming dietary calcium at a lower amount than the RDI.