The changing state of nutrition in southern China will be the focus of a one–day symposium—Beyond the Iron Rice Bowl—that will explore emerging dietary patterns and possible intervention strategies in the world’s most populous country.
The Nov. 6 event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Cohen Auditorium at the Yale Child Center on 230 South Frontage Road. The symposium is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required. To register for this event, contact the Yale–China Association at yale–china@yale.edu by noon on Friday, October 31.
The complications of overnutrition such as obesity and chronic diet–related disease are on the rise in China’s swiftly urbanizing population. “The historical pattern is that poverty leads to starvation, but the pattern is changing with the increasing availability of low cost vegetable oils and sugar,” said Professor Debbie Humphries of the Yale School of Public Health. “This is a worldwide transition, but China provides an interesting example because there is potential for change and people are starting to pay attention.”
The symposium’s morning program will provide an overview of undernutrition in China, changes in patterns of obesity, the long–term influence of enduring famine on the dietary health of a generation, and a broader talk on social and epidemiological trends that are influencing nutrition. The afternoon session will be divided into three parts to look at different intervention strategies. Community and school interventions will be considered, in addition to policy level interventions.
The event is being sponsored by the Yale–China Association and Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University with support from the U.S. Department of Education.