Promoting healthy eating through nudges : Multimodal discursive representations of food and eating in weight‑loss articles in Chinese official WeChat posts

Huang, Xiang and Li, Run (2026) Promoting healthy eating through nudges : Multimodal discursive representations of food and eating in weight‑loss articles in Chinese official WeChat posts. Critical Public Health, 36 (1): 2613532. ISSN 0958-1596

Abstract

Introduction Encouraging healthy eating has become a key area in China’s efforts to curb rising obesity levels among the population. Previous research highlights the importance of media in shaping dietary behaviors, yet few studies examine official digital platforms. This study critically examines how ‘健康中国’ [Healthy China], the official WeChat account of the National Health Commission of China, represents food and eating in weight loss content to guide public food choices. Theory Guided by the theoretical concept of ‘nudges’, which are soft and subtle interventions designed to improve food choices while maintaining freedom of choice, this study applies the approach of multimodal critical discourse analysis. Healthy eating is conceptualized as extending across epistemic, material, moral, and emotional dimensions. Method A total of 66 posts from ‘健康中国’ [Healthy China] were analyzed. The analysis focused on how textual, visual, and interactive elements construct four eating discourses: educated eating (teaching the public to make informed food choices), tailored eating (integrating specific backgrounds of different groups), moral eating (emphasizing duties in food choices), and affective eating (enjoying healthy food with love and security). Results There are four identified eating discourses, which are ‘educated eating’, ‘tailored eating’, ‘moral eating’, and ‘affective eating’. These discourses are mobilized to produce nudge effects, subtly guiding dietary behavior while preserving individual autonomy. Discussion This study provides insights into how multimodal, culturally specific eating discourses in China are enacted as soft, paternalistic nudges, revealing their dual role in promoting public health while reinforcing weight stigma and individualizing responsibility, thus offering a critical perspective on the ethical and social implications of nudge-based health communication.