SCOPE School China: Bridging Knowledge to Practice

SCOPE successfully delivered its third annual SCOPE School in Beijing on 6 August 2026, co-hosted with our Member, the China Obesity Federation (COF), ahead of the China Obesity Congress 2026.

With obesity rates rising across China, driven by factors such as reduced physical activity, increased consumption of processed food, and increasingly sedentary lifestyles associated with urbanisation, the programme highlighted the urgent need for evidence-based, context-specific obesity care. As a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and various cancers, obesity requires urgent and context-specific clinical attention.

Participants left the School with a greater understanding of the specific challenges in obesity management within China’s healthcare system and cultural context, more familiarity with clinical assessments and recommendations specific to the Chinese population, and better equipped to address the effects of weight stigma on patient experience and care outcomes.

Opening the China Obesity Congress 2026

Following the SCOPE School, World Obesity Federation CEO Johanna Ralston was invited to deliver a talk as part of the China Obesity Congress 2026 opening ceremony. Ralston spoke about China’s growing obesity burden and the actions being taken to address it as a major threat to public health.

In recent years, the Chinese Government has launched two large-scale initiatives to improve public health and reduce obesity levels. Healthy China 2030, launched in 2019, prioritises health as a precondition of economic and social development, and was expanded to include a drive to address obesity. The Weight Management Years campaign was jointly issued in 2024 by 16 Chinese departments and organisations, including the National Health Commission (NHC), to ensure that a supportive environment for weight management is formed in China. Beyond these initiatives, the Chinese government has also made steps to improve nutrition labelling, with changes set to take effect from March 2027.