title: [Study on weight and height of the Chinese people and the differences between 1992 and 2002].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the current situation and trends of mean weight and height of the Chinese people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects of 71,971 households from 31 provinces were selected by stratified multi-stage cluster random sampling method. Height from 210 136 and weight from 202 749 subjects aged 2-79 years were used to describe their trends of development during 1992-2002. The height of children younger than 3 years of age was measured by infant height bed while the others were measured by metal height pole within 0.1 cm accuracy. Fasting body weight was measured to the nearest 0.1 kg.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on the mean height (cm) of Chinese children aged 2, 6, 11, 17 years were gathered which include: 1) in urban area: boys as 90.1 (2y), 118.4 (6y), 144.9 (11y), 170.2 (17y); girls as: 89.0 (2y), 117.0 (6y), 145.8 (11y), 158.6 (17y); 2) in rural area:boys as 87.6 (2y), 113.1 (6y), 139.2 (11y), 166.3 (17y) while girls as 86.2 (2y), 112.9 (6y), 140.0 (11y), 157.0 (17y). When compared to the results from 1992, the average height increased among all age groups. The values of increase among different groups aged 2-5 years were seen as: 3.6 cm of boys in urban and 3.0 cm of boys in rural areas while 3.8 cm of girls in urban and 3.0 cm of girls in rural areas. Among the aged 6-19 year groups, the average increasing values of height were 3.1 cm, 3.4 cm, 2.8 cm and 3.1 cm of city boys, rural boys, city girls and rural girls, respectively versus adults as 0.7 cm, 0.9 cm, 0.6 cm and 1.0 cm, respectively. The mean weight (kg) of Chinese children aged 2, 6, 11, 17 years were listed as below: boys in urban area: 13.5 (2y), 22.2 (6y), 37.4 (11y), 58.7 (17y); girls in urban area: 12.7 (2y), 21.2 (6y), 36.7 (11y), 51.9 (17y); boys in rural area: 12.8 (2y), 19.4 (6y), 31.9 (11y), 54.9 (17y); girls in rural area: 11.9 (2y), 18.7 (6y), 31.8 (11y), 51.2 (17y). The average weights of all age groups on 2002 were all higher than their same age counterparts in 1992. The average increasing values of weight among children aged 2-5 years were 1.0 kg, 0.6 kg, 0.8 kg and 0.5 kg for city boys, rural boys, city girls and rural girls, respectively. Among the aged 6-19 year groups, they were 2.0 kg, 1.5 kg, 1.4 kg and 1.1 kg, while among the adults aged 20-70 years, they were 3.2 kg, 3.0 kg, 1.6 kg and 2.9 kg, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both mean weight and height had a remarkable increase and the physical status improved among all age groups for the last ten years.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-guang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yan-ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guan-Sheng
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xiao-qi
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jing-zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhao-hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zhi-hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wen-tao
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Zheng-xiong
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Feng-ying
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Zhai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult