Comparison of growth and nutritional status of Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents

Abstract

Background

The difference in growth and nutritional status, both important indices of population quality, between Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents is unknown.

Aim

This study aimed to compare growth and nutritional status between Chinese and Japanese children and adolescents.

Subjects and methods

The height-for-age and BMI-for-age distribution of 9,226 children and adolescents aged 7–18 years from China and Japan were described with the Lambda Mu and Sigma method. Wasting, overweight and obesity were evaluated based on BMI-for-age cut-offs of the 2007 WHO Child Growth Reference.

Results

For boys, the overall average height, weight and BMI of Chinese participants were 3.0 cm, 4.8 kg and 1.2 kg/m² greater compared with Japanese participants, respectively; for girls, these were 4.6 cm, 3.9 kg and 0.6 kg/m², respectively. Compared with Japanese children, the 3rd, 50th and 97th percentiles of height-for-age, 1Z-score, and 2Z-score of BMI-for-age of Chinese children were greater, whereas the minus 2Z-scores of Chinese children were less. The prevalence of wasting, overweight and obesity among Chinese participants was greater.

Conclusions

Compared with Japanese children, Chinese children tended to be taller. The worrying burden of overweight, obesity and wasting was recognised among Chinese children.

Keywords:

• Children and adolescents
• China and Japan
• growth
• nutritional status

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all persons who helped us with this study. Our deepest gratitude also goes to Professor Tetsuro Ogaki of the Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Japan, for his constructive suggestions and selfless assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Education Commission of Shanghai, China [HJTY-2014-A17].