Chinese children 6 cm taller than 3 decades ago, survey shows

Asian Economic News, Jan 1, 2007

BEIJING, Dec. 30 Kyodo

Children in major Chinese cities are now 6 centimeters taller than they were 30 years ago as a result of better nutrition, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.

It said the results of a Health Ministry survey, released earlier in the day, show the average height of 6-year-old boys rose from 112.3 cm in 1975 to 118.7 cm in 2005, while that of girls reached 117.7 cm, 6.2 cm more than in 1975.

The survey, which has been conducted by ministry every 10 years since 1975, covered almost 140,000 children in urban and suburban areas of Beijing, Harbin, Xi'an, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and Kunming.

Xinhua said taller children are posing problems for city transport authorities. In June this year, Beijing's municipal government had to revise the height under which kids get a free bus ride from 1.1 meters high to 1.2 meters.

The free bus ride height in Liaoning Province -- where people are taller than in the rest of China -- has gone up to 1.3 meters, the report said.

Children living in suburban areas used to be much shorter than those in the city. Now the difference is down to 2.6 cm from 4.9 cm, the survey showed.

Child growth is considered a good indicator of overall socioeconomic development in developing countries.