Tian Xu, Wang Hui
College of Economics and Management, Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Xueyuan Rd 38, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.
Children (Basel). 2021 May 14;8(5):397. doi: 10.3390/children8050397.
The growth status and weight status of Chinese children have experienced remarkable changes in the past decades. Using China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data, this paper examines the secular trends and disparity of the growth status and weight status in Chinese children and further investigates the impact of various family environments on children's growth from 1991 to 2011. We found an increasing trend in standardized growth indicators (height, weight, and BMI), overweight, and obesity from 1991 to 2011. We also observed an increasing disparity in overweight and obesity over time. Family environments had a significant impact on children's growth status and weight status. In particular, children that live in families with a small size, higher family income, better sanitary conditions, and with well-educated parents or overweight parents tended to be taller and heavier and have a higher BMI, lower risk of being underweight, and higher risk of exhibiting overweight and obesity. Further decomposition analysis showed that more than 70% of the disparity in standardized height, weight, and overweight and around 50% of the disparity in standardized BMI, underweight, and obesity could be attributed to heterogeneity in family environments. Moreover, the disparity associated with family environments tended to increase over time.
在过去几十年里，中国儿童的生长状况和体重状况发生了显著变化。本文利用中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）数据，研究了1991年至2011年中国儿童生长状况和体重状况的长期趋势及差异，并进一步探讨了各种家庭环境对儿童生长的影响。我们发现，1991年至2011年期间，标准化生长指标（身高、体重和BMI）、超重和肥胖呈上升趋势。我们还观察到，随着时间的推移，超重和肥胖的差异在增加。家庭环境对儿童的生长状况和体重状况有显著影响。特别是，生活在家庭规模小、家庭收入高、卫生条件好、父母受过良好教育或父母超重的家庭中的儿童往往更高、更重，BMI更高，体重不足风险更低，超重和肥胖风险更高。进一步的分解分析表明，标准化身高、体重和超重差异的70%以上，以及标准化BMI、体重不足和肥胖差异的50%左右可归因于家庭环境的异质性。此外，与家庭环境相关的差异往往会随着时间的推移而增加。
