Against the backdrop of the escalating prevalence of overweight and obesity, China has promulgated numerous weight management policies. However, the selection preferences, compositional structure, and stakeholder coupling characteristics of the policy instruments employed remain to be systematically analyzed.

To systematically analyze the selection preferences and compositional characteristics of policy instruments for weight management in China, identify structural imbalances within the current policy system, and provide evidence-based references for optimizing the nation's comprehensive obesity prevention and control strategies.

In November 2025, eleven core national-level policy documents on weight management issued from January 1, 2016 to October 31, 2025 were selected as the study objects. A "policy instrument-stakeholder" two-dimensional analytical framework was constructed, and content analysis was employed to conduct systematic coding, frequency statistical analysis, and cross-analysis of the policy texts.

A total of 454 policy instrument codes and 538 stakeholder codes were extracted from 11 core policy documents. Command-and-control instruments had the highest proportion [182 (40.09%)], followed by information-based [101 (22.25%)] and capacity-building instruments [91 (20.04%)], while incentive-based [43 (9.47%)] and system-change instruments [37 (8.15%)] accounted for relatively low proportions. In the stakeholder dimension, government departments [204 (37.92%)] and healthcare institutions [139 (25.84%)] were the primary targets, while health-related industries [34 (6.32%)] and social organizations [39 (7.25%)] received relatively low policy attention.

China's weight management policy system exhibits significant structural imbalances in instrument configuration, presenting a "center-periphery" governance structure centered on administrative leadership and medical intervention. The intervention logic prioritizes micro-level individual behavior regulation and health education, with insufficient attention given to structural interventions regarding the obesogenic environment and multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms. There is an urgent need to address deficiencies in fiscal incentives and legal regulations, strengthen inter-sectoral coordination and social mobilization mechanisms, and promote the transformation of the policy system toward legalization, incentivization, and collaborative governance.