A new global analysis led by Imperial College London and published in the Journal The lancetassessed the height and weight of school age children and teenagers around the world.
Using data from 65 million children aged five to 19 in 193 countries, the study found that school-age children ‘s height and weight are indicators of their health and the quality of their diet around the world are different.
There was a 20 cm difference between 19 year olds in the tallest and shortest countries – this meant an eight year growth gap for girls and a six year growth gap for boys. For example, the study found that the average 19-year-old girl in Bangladesh and Guatemala (the nations with the shortest girls in the world) is the same size as the average 11-year-old girl in the Netherlands, the nation with the tallest boys and girls.
The international team behind the study warns that very different diets in children, especially a lack of quality food, can lead to stunted growth and an increase in obesity in children, which can affect the health and well-being of a child Child throughout their life.
The research, which included data from 1985 to 2019, found that the nations with the tallest 19-year-olds in 2019 were in north-western and central Europe, including the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark and Iceland.
Those nations with the shortest 19-year-olds in 2019 were primarily located in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and East Africa, including Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, and Bangladesh.
The largest improvements in average child height over 35 years have been seen in emerging economies such as China, South Korea, and some parts of Southeast Asia. For example, 19-year-old boys in China were 8 cm taller in 2019 than they were in 1985, with their global rank changing from the 150th highest in 1985 to 65th in 2019. In contrast, the size of children, especially boys, has been in many sub-Saharan countries. African nations have stagnated or decreased in size over these decades.
The UK’s global size ranking has deteriorated over the past 35 years. 19-year-old boys fell from 28th place in 1985 (176.3 cm) to 39th place in 2019 (178.2 cm) and 19-year-old girls from 42nd place (162.7 cm)) to 49th (163, 9 cm).
The study also rated children’s body mass index (BMI) – a measure of height-to-weight ratio that provides an indication of whether a person is a healthy weight for their height. The analysis found that 19-year-olds with the largest BMI were found in the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, the United States, and New Zealand. The BMI of 19-year-olds was lowest in South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh. The difference between the lightest and the heaviest BMI in the study was about 9 BMI units (corresponds to about 25 kg weight).
The research team explained that the analysis also found that children as young as five years old in many countries had height and weight within the healthy range set by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, after this age, children in some countries have experienced undergrowth in height and gained too much weight relative to the potential for healthy growth.
The team says the main reason for this is the lack of adequate and healthy nutrition and living environment during the school years, as both weight gain and weight gain are closely related to the quality of a child’s diet.
Professor Majid Ezzati, lead author of the study at the Imperial School of Public Health, said, “Children in some countries grow healthily up to five years old, but fall behind in the school years. This shows that there is an imbalance between investing in improving nutrition in preschool students and school-age children and adolescents. This issue is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools around the world are closed and many poor families are unable to adequately feed their children. ”
Dr. Andrea Rodriguez Martinez, lead author of the Imperial School of Public Health study, added, “Our findings should motivate guidelines that increase availability and reduce the cost of nutritious foods as this will help children grow taller without gaining excessive weight These initiatives include food vouchers for nutritious foods for low-income families and free healthy school feeding programs that are particularly at risk during the pandemic. These measures would enable children to grow taller without gaining excessive weight, with lifelong benefits to their health and wellbeing. ”
More results are also available below:
Top 10 countries for boys in 2019 (19 year olds)
Netherlands (183.8 cm), Montenegro (183.3 cm), Estonia (182.8 cm), Bosnia and Herzegovina (182.5 cm), Iceland (182.1 cm), Denmark (181.9 cm), Czech Republic (181.2 cm), Latvia (181.2 cm), Slovakia (181.0 cm), Slovenia (181.0 cm)
Shortest 10 countries for boys in 2019 (19-year-olds)
Timor-Leste (160.1 cm), PDR Laos (162.8 cm), Solomon Islands (163.1 cm), Papua New Guinea (163.1 cm), Mozambique (164.3 cm), Guatemala (164.4 in cm), Nepal (164.4 cm), Yemen (164.4 cm), Bangladesh (165.1 cm), Madagascar (165.2 cm)
Top 10 countries for girls in 2019 (19 year olds)
Netherlands (170.4 cm), Montenegro (170.0 cm), Denmark (169.5 cm), Iceland (168.9 cm), Latvia (168.8 cm), Estonia (168.7 cm), Serbia ( 168.3 cm), Czech Republic (168.0 cm), Lithuania (167.6 cm), American Samoa (167.6 cm)
Shortest 10 countries for girls in 2019 (19-year-olds)
Guatemala (150.9 cm), Bangladesh (152.4 cm), Nepal (152.4 cm), Timor-Leste (152.7 cm), Madagascar (153.1 cm), Laos PDR (153.1 cm) , Philippines (154.1 cm), Maldives (154.3 cm), Indonesia (154.4 cm), Peru (154.4 cm)
10 countries with the highest BMI in 2019 for boys (19 years old)
Cook Islands (29.6), Nauru (29.5), Tuvalu (28.2), Niue (28.1), Tonga (27.3), American Samoa (27.2), Tokelau (27.2) , Palau (27.1), French Polynesia (26.3), Kiribati (26.2)
10 countries with the lowest BMI in 2019 for boys (19 years old)
Ethiopia (19.2), Niger (19.8), DR Congo (19.9), Senegal (20.1), India (20.1), Timor-Leste (20.3), Bangladesh (20.4 ), Central African Republic (20.5), Nepal (20.5), Chad (20.6)
10 countries with the highest BMI in 2019 for girls (19 years old)
Tonga (29.0), Cook Islands (28.9), Nauru (28.6), Niue (28.3), Tokelau (27.9), Samoa (27.9), Tuvalu (27.2), American -Samoa (26.6), Palau (26.5), French Polynesia (26.2)
10 countries with the lowest BMI in 2019 for girls (19 years old)
Timor-Leste (19.6), Romania (19.9), India (20.1), Vietnam (20.4), Madagascar (20.4), Sri Lanka (20.6), Cambodia (20.6 ), Myanmar (20.6), Bangladesh (20.6), Japan (20.6)
Further country data for 2019 for 19-year-olds:
Country mean height (cm) Rank mean BMI (kg / m2) Rank BMI
Men
United Kingdom 178.2 39 23.5 60
United States of America 176.9 47 25.4 16
China 175,7 65 23 88
If 166.5 180 20.1 196
France 178.6 34 22.5 113
Germany 180.3 19 23.3 68
Australia 178.8 29 24.4 27
Canada 178.7 30 23.8 43
Women
United Kingdom 163.9 49 23.8 50
United States of America 163.3 58 25.4 19
China 163,5 54 22,2 119
If 155.2 182 20.1 198
France 164.5 45 21.7 151
Germany 166.2 25 22.6 98
Australia 164.7 40 24.2 36
Canada 164.7 39 23.3 69
Up there: Netherlands, Latvia lead the world for greatness
More information:
“Height and Body Mass Index Trajectories of School-Age Children and Adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 Countries: A Pooled Analysis of 2,182 Population-Based Studies with 65 Million Participants” was published in The lancet: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan… (20) 31859-6 / fulltext
Provided by Imperial College London
Quote: Poor diet during the school years may have resulted in a height difference of 20 cm between countries (2020, November 5th), reported on November 5th, 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-11-poor- nutrition-school-years-cm was obtained. html
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