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Taller and fatter: study shows boys in rural China are 7.5cm taller and 6.6kg heavier than a decade ago thanks to better nutrition
- An official study has found boys aged 13 in rural China are now 7.5cm taller and 6.6kg heavier than a decade ago
- Meanwhile, children aged between 6 and 15 were on average at least 3cm taller and 1kg heavier due to improved diet
Published: 2:00pm, 17 Oct, 2022
A just released study shows better nutrition has led to boys in rural China being on average 7.5cm taller and 6.6kg heavier compared to 10 years ago. Photo: SCMP composite
Improved nutrition has increased the average height and weight of boys aged 13 in rural China who are now 7.5cm taller and 6.6kg heavier than a decade ago, an official study found.
While the gain was biggest among boys in the 13-year-old age bracket, children aged between six and 15 were on average at least 3cm taller and 1kg heavier due to improved diet, according to a survey of schoolchildren from rural areas of about 700 counties across China between 2012 and 2021.
Among girls, those aged 12 benefited the most, gaining 6.3cm in height and 5.8kg in weight on average, found the study, which was published on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Education on Friday.
Children experience an intelligent fitness facility at the second China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province.
The significant increase in children’s weight was mainly thanks to a nutrition improvement initiative launched in 2012, targeting students from poorer rural regions, the study said.
The prevalence of stunted growth dropped by 5.7 per cent from 10 years ago, affecting just 2.3 per cent of the children monitored last year.
However, by the end of last year as many as 12 per cent still suffered from anaemia, a condition largely linked to nutritional deficiencies although this had decreased by nearly 5 per cent since 2012.
Despite a considerable increase in the availability and diversity of food provided to children in lower-income areas, less than a third of them had access to milk and fruit every day last year.
The initiative has not only helped schoolchildren become healthier, it has also been, “an important measure to stop the intergenerational transmission of poverty and push for education equality”, the study said.
Taller and bigger children have been regarded as tangible evidence of China’s progress in poverty alleviation in recent decades after its economic reforms in the late 1970s. While memories of malnutrition and hunger are still fresh among older generations, most people’s diets have undergone major improvements since then as hundreds of millions were lifted out of poverty based on Chinese government standards.
International research on the evolution of average heights in 2020 painted an even more impressive picture for China. It found that the country witnessed the largest male height increase between 1985 and 2019 among 200 countries and territories examined.
Chinese men aged 19 grew nearly an extra 9cm in height over the period, according to that research published in the Lancet medical journal.
Chinese women in the same age group gained 6cm, marking the third-highest height increase worldwide, it showed.
Taller and fatter: boys in rural China 7.5cm taller, 6.6kg heavier, study shows
Rural Chinese children, particularly teenage boys, are now taller and heavier than a decade ago, thanks to improved nutrition, China’s Ministry of Education has revealed in a new study.
www.scmp.com
