Editor's Notes:

[Health Byte] is your insider guide to navigating Shanghai's health maze. From the labyrinth of public and private healthcare options to the pulse of cutting-edge medical services, we've got you covered. Each bite-sized article ends with a health tip, making wellness in the city more accessible than ever. Wondering about hospital features, where to find bilingual medics, or the scoop on insurance coverage? "Health Byte" breaks it down, offering clear, actionable insights.

Weight Loss Gets Official

The Chinese government has put weight loss on the national agenda, rolling out a three-year plan aimed at shrinking waistlines across all age groups. The stakes? Without serious intervention, adult obesity is projected to hit a staggering 70.5% by 2030. For kids, it's not much better – 31.8%. In response, health authorities have linked arms with education and sports departments to issue a new set of "healthy and scientific" guidelines.

In Shanghai, hospitals are stepping up with integrated treatments that blend traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Western practices, and lifestyle overhauls. We dropped by Shanghai Yueyang Hospital – ranked No.1 nationally for its TCM-Western hybrid approach – to see how their weight management center is getting people lighter on their feet.

Pounds, Pressure and a Pinch of Ginseng

At Shanghai Yueyang Hospital, weight is treated as a serious health indicator. "Overweight and obesity are not only about figure," says Dr Yao Zheng, vice president of the hospital. "They are important risk factors for cardio-cerebrovascular diseases like diabetes and hypertension and some cancers. Weight management is not simple, as it is related to chronic disease management. When the weight is reduced, the chronic diseases are also well-controlled."

Yueyang's weight management program brings together a mix of diagnostic tools and treatment paths drawn from both TCM and modern clinical practice. "We will offer a detailed evaluation on the patient and conduct checks on the body compositions like water, muscle and fat, organ fat and metabolism to get a full-scale understanding to the patient," explains Dr He Yanming, director of the hospital's endocrinology department. (Organ fat refers to visceral fat – the kind that builds up around internal organs and is strongly linked to chronic disease.)

Patients receive personalized plans combining herbal prescriptions and external TCM treatments – like acupuncture and auricular therapy – with assistance from Western medicine. "We will give a treatment mainly depending on herbal medicine and TCM external treatment, assisted by Western medicine. We will also give a customized diet and sports prescription," says He.

That includes an individualized blend of herbs along with procedures like catgut embedding (a technique using dissolvable threads placed at acupuncture points for prolonged stimulation). "Acupuncture has its unique effects on weight loss as it can help suppress appetite, increase energy consumption and improve metabolism," she adds.

One of their best-known treatments is Qingying Fang – also known as the Lightness Formula – a weight-loss herbal blend first introduced last year. "We renovated the recipe this year by adding more herbs with weight-loss effects and improving its package and flavor based on people's comments," says Dr Ma Ying, vice director of Yueyang's pharmacy department.

The Diet Myths You Can Skip

At Yueyang Hospital, the approach to weight loss runs counter to fad diets and food myths. Nutritionists there focus on structure – meals designed around quantity, timing and the rhythm of eating. It's not about restriction. It's about balance, and about understanding how the body responds to the food it's given, and when.

"Some popular tips like not eating dinner at night, not eating staple food, or only eating one certain type of food – blind belief in so-called fat-free and sugar-free foods – are all improper methods," says Dr Ma Li, director of the hospital's nutrition department. "These extreme dieting methods can't help reduce weight, but endanger health. Not eating dinner can cause a reduction in glucose levels at night and induce a strong sense of hunger. Some people can develop overeating. Avoiding staple food can cause fatigue, poor mental status, drop metabolism and influence weight loss on the contrary."

Dieting, when done without thought, can leave the body confused, undernourished and defensive. "Only drinking vegetable or fruit juice, and eating some so-called low-fat and low-sugar food may help you lose weight during a short period," she says. "It is a very unhealthy method, as you may suffer malnutrition. The extreme low-calorie can make the body enter an 'energy-saving mode.' After regaining the normal diet, your weight will rebound very quickly."

The message is consistent: food is not the enemy. The enemy is imbalance.

The Shape of Routine

During a recent health livestream, Dr Wu Fan, director of the Shanghai Preventive Medicine Association, outlined a clear message: long-term weight loss depends on sustainable lifestyle changes. "Even though people can take medicines, receive surgery, and a combined TCM and Western medicine therapy, a healthy lifestyle is the key to reducing weight," she said.

Wu, the first director of the chronic disease center at China's CDC, offers a framework that is specific without being overwhelming.

She recommends aerobic activity that reaches a target heart rate between 60 to 80 percent of 220 minus your age, and maintains that pace for more than 20 minutes. Strength training three times a week. For those with sedentary jobs, she suggests standing and moving the body for a few minutes every hour. A step count above 6,000 each day provides a reliable baseline.

Nutritional guidelines are equally structured. Limit salt to 5 grams a day, cooking oil to 25 grams, and sugar to the same. Each meal begins with a cup of water. Food should follow a sequence: vegetables first, then proteins such as fish, eggs, or meat. Rice comes last. Eating slowly supports digestion and encourages awareness.

Wu's method focuses on routine and discipline – measured changes that build over time.

Health Byte Tips:A New Lens on Cancer Detection

Endoscopy (a medical procedure that uses a flexible tube with a light and camera to look inside the digestive tract) remains one of the most effective tools for detecting cancers of the digestive system. But the process is rarely immediate. When abnormal tissue is found, patients typically wait several days – sometimes longer – for biopsy results. That pause can be a source of anxiety, and in some cases, delay treatment.

Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital is now using a new technology that changes the equation. The device is called a fluorescence confocal laser endomicroscope (a high-resolution imaging tool that uses laser scanning and fluorescent dye to examine tissue at the cellular level), and it enables what doctors are calling an "optical biopsy" – a real-time, microscopic look at tissue during the procedure itself. Right now, the hospital is the only one in the city offering the system.

Unlike conventional endoscopy, which relies on video imaging and lab-tested biopsies (small samples of tissue), the new method uses fluorescent dye and laser imaging to create magnified views, up to 1,000 times, of the gastrointestinal lining. This reveals detailed tissue structures, including individual cells and microvessels (tiny blood vessels).

"Under traditional endoscopy, we need to wait for the result of pathological result," says Dr Wang Dong, director of the hospital's endoscope department. "This new technology combines diagnosis and treatment into one endoscopy, so it can save 7 to 10 days for waiting time and also help reduce patients' medical costs."

Dr Wang explains that this level of magnification helps doctors identify cancerous changes at a very early stage. "This advanced system can magnify the objects by 1,000 times and capture a cellular level image of very early cancer, allowing doctors to do detailed checks on cells and microvessels to make a timely judgment on the lesion," he says. "It reduces the trauma from repeated biopsies. It makes real-time diagnosis of micro-cancerous lesions during endoscopy a possibility."

The hospital collaborates with artificial intelligence specialists to develop a real-time decision support system. The goal is to extend this technology to more clinics and smaller hospitals. "We are now cooperating with the artificial intelligence team to develop a real-time assistance system to achieve a remote group consulting system to promote the technology to more grassroots facilities and benefit more patients."

This method is especially valuable for patients at high risk of digestive system cancers or in cases where early signs may be difficult to detect using standard imaging techniques.

Upcoming Topics

Shanghai is now home to the world's largest integrated center for the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic diseases. The facility offers a single point of care, bringing together screening, consultation, and therapy under one roof. In parallel, researchers are working on the development of a vaccine for pancreatic cancer – an effort that signals a shift toward more proactive forms of prevention.

Details on both the center and the vaccine project will be featured in the next column, along with a closer look at how the city is shaping its approach to pancreatic disease control.

About the Author

Cai Wenjun is a seasoned health reporter with Shanghai Daily. With extensive experience covering the local medical system, hospitals, health officials and leading medical experts, Cai has reported on major pandemics, including SARS, swine flu and COVID-19, as well as developments in the local health industry.