[Trends of prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness among Chinese Han students aged 13 to 18 years from 1985 to 2014].

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the trends of prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness among Chinese Han students aged 13 to 18 years from 1985 to 2014.

METHODS

In the study, 738 523 students aged 13 to 18 years were extracted from the 1985 to 2014 Chinese National Survey on Students' Constitution and Health. Height, weight, vital capacity and indicators of physical fitness were measured for each student. According to National Standards for Students' Physical Health (2014 Revision), students meeting an overall score ≥ 90.0 were considered to be of excellent health status and physical fitness. We used the Chi-square test to compare the differences in prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness among different subgroups and draw maps of regional distribution of prevalence by using ArcGIS.

RESULTS

From 1985 to 2014, the average height, weight, and BMI for Chinese Han students aged 13 to 18 years increased consistently, while the average vital capacity and indicators of physical fitness fluctuated largely. The overall prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness increased from 2.7% in 1985 to 4.4% in 1995, dropped consistently to 1.1% in 2005, rebounded 0.6 percentage points in 2010, and increased to 2.2% in 2014. In each survey year, the prevalence for the boys was always higher than for the girls (P<0.001), the prevalence for middle school students aged 13 to 15 years was always higher than for high school students aged 16-18 years (P<0.001), and the prevalence for students in eastern region was higher than in western and central regions (P<0.001). In 1985 and 1995, the prevalence in certain provinces in eastern and central regions was <1%. In 2005, almost half provinces (14/30) had a prevalence <1%. In 2014, provinces in eastern coastal areas had relatively high prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness in students aged 13 to 18 years, while provinces in central and western regions had relatively low prevalence.

CONCLUSION

A fluctuating trend of the prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness has been observed among Chinese Han students aged 13 to 18 years during the past three decades. There is great difference between the current prevalence of excellent health status and physical fitness and the goal of Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan, thus, the effective interventions and strategies for promoting students' physical activity and physical fitness are urgently needed in China.