(Yicai) March 10 -- China will boost efforts to promote the prevention and control of chronic diseases, especially those related to weight management, by guiding healthcare institutions to establish weight clinics, according to the head of the National Health Commission.

The main risk factor and disease harming Chinese people's health comes from chronic non-communicable diseases, highlighting the significant challenge of chronic disease prevention and control in the country, Lei Haichao said at a conference during the Two Sessions yesterday.

Abnormal weight is prone to causing hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, fatty liver, and even some cancers, Lei noted.

"We will guide medical and health institutions to establish weight clinics to provide a good professional consultation environment and platform for residents troubled by weight issues," Lei said. "With the efforts and help of professional institution personnel, people will be able to manage their weight better and live healthier lives."

"In recent years, the surge in cardiovascular diseases is closely related to metabolic disorders, unhealthy lifestyles, overnutrition, obesity, and diabetes," Ge Junbo, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of Zhongshan Hospital's cardiology department, told Yicai.

"A patient with a sudden myocardial infarction likely had a change in their blood vessels decades ago. People should know the long-term hidden dangers of health risk factors," Ge pointed out.

"New weight-loss drugs such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists will likely become the main obesity treatment," Ji Linnong, director of the endocrinology department of Peking University People's Hospital, said to Yicai. However, patients with clinical weight-loss needs should visit medical institutions for evaluation and diagnosis and carry out relevant treatments, he noted.

"Discussing whether obesity is a disease is no longer meaningful," Professor Qu Shen from Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital told Yicai. "The key is to determine the diagnostic criteria for obesity, making it feasible and treatable.

"The classification of obesity is imperative and is the premise of individualized diagnosis and treatment," Qu stressed.

Editor: Martin Kadiev