Abstract
BackgroundBoth child under- and over-nutrition are major global public health challenges. We aimed to examine thirty-year trends in physical growth, under- and over-nutrition in Chinese urban and suburban children between 1985 and 2015, and discuss implications for child health programmes.MethodsA total of 610,785 urban and suburban children from birth to 7 years of age were collected from a series of large-scale national surveys in China. Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) Z-scores and prevalence of stunting, underweight, wasted and possible risk of overweight, overweight and obesity were calculated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 growth standards. The trends in the prevalence were tested across different survey years by Cochran-Armitage trend test.ResultsRapid secular growth trend was observed in China over the past 30 years, but the trend showed a slowing sign in urban children in recent 10 years. The growth level of Chinese urban and suburban children surpassed the WHO 2006 growth standards in 2015. Between 1985 and 2015 the stunting, underweight and wasted prevalence decreased from 12.21, 4.44, 1.68 to 0.97%, 0.59, 0.87% for children under 5 years and from 12.69, 10.02, 3.41 to 0.42%, 0.67, 2.17% for children aged 5- < 7 respectively; the possible risk of overweight prevalence increased from 6.51 to 12.57%, overweight from 0.70 to 3.48% and obesity from 0.17 to 0.86% for children aged 2- < 7 and the increasing rates of overweight and obesity prevalence in suburban children first outnumbered urban children in recent 10 years. The overweight prevalence overtook the wasted or underweight in children aged 2- < 7 in 2005 and onward.ConclusionSlowing secular height trend and overweight prevalence overtaking the wasted or underweight suggested child nutrition and health strategies should adjust swiftly and deliberately from primarily reducing under-nutrition prevalence to controlling rapid weight gain and promoting integrated early development.
Highlights
IntroductionWe aimed to examine thirty-year trends in physical growth, under- and over-nutrition in Chinese urban and suburban children between 1985 and 2015, and discuss implications for child health programmes
Both child under- and over-nutrition are major global public health challenges
Basic characteristics The 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 NSPGDC were composed of 152,874, 157,362, 138,775 and 161,774 children from birth to 7 years respectively, with both boys and girls consisting of approximately equal numbers from urban and suburban areas of nine cities
Summary
We aimed to examine thirty-year trends in physical growth, under- and over-nutrition in Chinese urban and suburban children between 1985 and 2015, and discuss implications for child health programmes. In 1975, China launched the National Survey on Physical Growth and Development of Children (NSPGDC) in nine cities in China [1, 2]. Zong et al BMC Public Health (2019) 19:402 sustainable development for all Both child under- and over-nutrition are major global public health challenges [10, 11], progress and challenges from China may have useful implications for many parts of the world. Many parts of the world are undergoing transition from low- to middle-income and economic conditions in these countries or regions are similar to China. The implications from China may be helpful to further develop child nutrition and health strategies for many parts of the world
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
