Chlorpyrifos has been used extensively for decades to control crop pests and disease-transmitting insects; its contribution to increasing food security and minimizing the spread of diseases has been well documented. Pymetrozine and Avermectin (also known as abamectin) have been used to replace the toxic organophosphate insecticides (e.g., Chlorpyrifos) applied to rice crops in China, where the overuse of pesticides has occurred. In addition, climate change has exacerbated pesticide use and pollution. Thus, farmers and communities are at risk of exposure to pesticide pollution. This study reviews the contamination, exposure, and health risks through environmental and biological monitoring of the legacy pesticide Chlorpyrifos and currently used insecticides Pymetrozine and Avermectin in China; it investigates whether changes in pesticide usage from Chlorpyrifos to Pymetrozine and Avermectin reduce pesticide contamination and health hazards to communities and residents. In addition, this review discusses whether Pymetrozine and Avermectin applications could be recommended in other countries where farmers largely use Chlorpyrifos and are exposed to high health risks under climate change scenarios. Although Chlorpyrifos is now banned in China, farmers and residents exposed to Chlorpyrifos are still experiencing adverse health effects. Local farmers still consider Chlorpyrifos an effective pesticide and continue to use it illegally in some areas. As a result, the concentration levels of Chlorpyrifos still exceed risk-based thresholds, and the occurrence of Chlorpyrifos with high toxicity in multiple environmental routes causes serious health effects owing to its long-term and wide application. The bioaccumulation of the currently used insecticides Pymetrozine and Avermectin in the environment is unlikely. Pymetrozine and Avermectin used in paddy water and soil for crop growth do not pose a significant hazard to public health. A change in pesticide use from Chlorpyrifos to Pymetrozine and Avermectin can reduce the pesticide contamination of the environment and health hazards to communities and residents. Finally, we recommend Pymetrozine and Avermectin in other countries, such as Vietnam, and countries in Africa, such as Ghana, where farmers still largely use Chlorpyrifos.

Based on residents’ food consumption data from 31 provinces in China from 2015–2021, this study analyzes the deviation in food consumption from nutrition targets and the spatial distribution characteristics of urban and rural residents in China from 2015–2021, and finds that there are irrationalities in the structure of food consumption of Chinese residents as well as regional differences in consumption. The food consumption of Chinese residents deviates from the recommended values of the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda to a certain extent, with large differences between urban and rural areas and provinces. Therefore, a new concept of food security with nutrition as the target should be established to guide residents’ food consumption scientifically and rationally, and to adopt focused attention and targeted measures for regions with serious imbalances in food consumption.

Empirical studies of the socio-economic determinants of the wellbeing of the oldest-old in China including the role of geography and spatial factors are rare. This paper applies binary logistic regression analysis to data on the oldest-old aged 80 years old and higher from the 2011 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS). Socioeconomic determinants of the self-reported quality of life (QoL) and self-reported health (SRH) of the oldest-old population are explored, with special attention paid to the role of residence and region. The results indicate that, after controlling for individual demographic and health behavior variables, both economic status and social welfare have a significant effect on self-reported QoL and SRH. There are also significant differences in self-reported QoL among cities, towns and rural areas, with the oldest-old respondents living in Central rural, Western town and Western rural areas being significantly less likely to report good QoL, compared to the oldest-old living in Eastern cities. Significant differences in SRH exist among Eastern China, Western China and Northeastern China, with the oldest-old from Western towns being significantly less likely to report good health, and the oldest-old from Northeastern cities being significantly more likely to report good health than those from Eastern cities. The results of this study indicate that socioeconomic factors that explain self-reported QoL and SRH of the older population are in general factors that explain the self-reported QoL and SRH of the oldest-old cohorts. The interaction effect of residence and region matters more than each of the individual factors, in providing us with more detailed information on the role of geography in explaining QoL and health of the oldest-old. At a time when the oldest-old cohorts in China are at the beginning of their projected growth, these findings are vital for providing policy makers with more information on the urgency of making more geographically targeted policy to improve more effectively the self-reported QoL and SRH of the oldest-old population.

Dietary imbalances are an important cause of morbidity and mortality, both in China and globally. Abnormal element content in the natural environment and the unbalanced dietary structure of populations coexist in the Tibetan Plateau. This study analyzed the dietary and food consumption patterns of 617 Tibetan residents and their associated factors. Cluster analysis revealed three modes of dietary pattern; the food consumption scores (FCSs) of subjects in modes with relatively high consumption frequency of staple food and relatively singular dietary structure were the lowest. Although the FCSs of most subjects were acceptable (FCS > 35), subjects with relatively low FCSs were more dependent on locally cultivated highland barley that is probably low in selenium. Hierarchical linear models revealed both individual–family and regional factors were significantly related (p values < 0.05) with the food consumption of subjects as follows: age, travel time from township to county, and cultivation area of highland barley were negatively related; numbers of individuals aged 40–60 years and pork, beef, and mutton production were positively related. Individuals with secondary or higher education had higher FCSs. A single indicator may be incomprehensive in dietary and food consumption studies. For people with a relatively unbalanced diet, an analysis of the main foods they consume is critical. Dietary and food consumption patterns might have relatively large inter-regional and intra-regional variations; therefore, factors that influence it might be multi-level and multi-scale.

China’s rapid socioeconomic growth in recent years and the simultaneous increase in many forms of pollution are generating contradictory pictures of residents’ well-being. This paper applies multilevel analysis to the 2013 China General Social Survey data on social development and health to understand this twofold phenomenon. Multilevel models are developed to investigate the impact of socioeconomic development and environmental degradation on self-reported health (SRH) and self-reported happiness (SRHP), differentiating among lower, middle, and higher income groups. The results of the logit multilevel analysis demonstrate that income, jobs, and education increased the likelihood of rating SRH and SRHP positively for the lower and middle groups but had little or no effect on the higher income group. Having basic health insurance had an insignificant effect on health but increased the likelihood of happiness among the lower income group. Provincial-level pollutants were associated with a higher likelihood of good health for all income groups, and community-level industrial pollutants increased the likelihood of good health for the lower and middle income groups. Measures of community-level pollution were robust predictors of the likelihood of unhappiness among the lower and middle income groups. Environmental hazards had a mediating effect on the relationship between socioeconomic development and health, and socioeconomic development strengthened the association between environmental hazards and happiness. These outcomes indicate that the complex interconnections among socioeconomic development and environmental degradation have differential effects on well-being among different income groups in China.