On October 19th, during an interview with China News Service in Beijing, Feng Xue, the Executive Deputy Director of the Health Lifestyle Medicine Center at the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, emphasized that traditional Chinese medicine has long addressed the concept of a healthy lifestyle. She expressed a desire to develop a lifestyle medicine system that aligns with Chinese culture, diet, and exercise.

Feng spoke at the Fourth China Health Lifestyle Medicine Conference, which took place from October 19th to 20th in Beijing. She described lifestyle medicine as the application of evidence-based medical practices to personalized recommendations regarding eating, drinking, living, traveling, and sleeping. “It’s a form of clinical medicine that prescribes lifestyle choices to treat diseases for each individual,” she explained.

Chen Runsheng, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out a fundamental difference between lifestyle medicine and traditional medicine: the focus. Traditional medicine is centered around treating illness, while lifestyle medicine prioritizes health. This represents an advancement in health philosophy and a deeper understanding of personal health status.

According to reports, lifestyle medicine was officially introduced in China in 2020. The establishment of the Health Lifestyle Medicine Center in September of that year marked a significant shift in the nation’s approach to disease prevention, emphasizing a health-centered model.

Feng noted that the center has grown significantly over the past four years, now boasting a team of over 100 healthcare professionals, including experts in nutrition, exercise, psychology, and sleep. Additionally, more public hospitals are eager to create departments focused on lifestyle medicine. Under the framework of the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases Lifestyle Medicine Alliance, over a hundred institutions from various provinces have established their own lifestyle medicine centers.

The expert highlighted that lifestyle medicine should reflect national cultural characteristics, including local dietary habits, exercise patterns, and the inherent attributes of the population. Hence, there is a need to conduct research tailored to local contexts, develop evidence-based medical findings, and then disseminate this information to the community to prescribe lifestyle changes effectively.

Feng reiterated the long-standing recognition in traditional Chinese medicine of a healthy lifestyle and the acceptance among the Chinese people of using wellness practices and lifestyle modifications to prevent illness and maintain health. “We hope to build a lifestyle medicine system unique to China, centered around our culture, diet, and exercise,” she concluded.