Wang Xijie, Wang Huan, Yuan Xin, Cai Shan, Huang Yangmu, Song Yi, Zou Zhiyong, Stafford Randall S
Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Institute for Healthy China, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Lancet Reg Health West Pac. 2025 Jul 25;61:101640. doi: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2025.101640. eCollection 2025 Aug.
Over the past decades, Chinese school-aged children and adolescents have experienced a rapid increase in overweight and obesity, but corresponding changes in muscle strength remain unclear. We aimed to elucidate trends in muscle strength development at both national and subnational level, and to investigate whether it has increased proportionally with weight gain.
Muscle strength (handgrip strength [kg] for upper body and standing broad jump [cm] for lower body) and weight measurements for 1.33 million children and adolescents aged 7 to 22 were obtained from five waves of the Chinese National Surveys on Students Constitution and Health (2000, 2005, 2010, 2014, and 2019). Trends in muscle strength indicators were investigated using t-test, with post-hoc pairwise comparisons performed using Bonferroni correction. Associations between muscle indicators with weight change were assessed with the Pearson correlation analysis.
Despite some increase during the first waves of survey, both handgrip strength and standing broad jump declined significantly between 2010 and 2019. The median handgrip strength decreased from 43.9 kg (95% CI 43.7 to 44.1) in 2010 to 42.5 kg (42.3 to 42.8) in 2019 among young males, and from 26.6 kg (26.5 to 26.7) in 2010 and to 26.0 kg (25.8 to 26.1) in 2019 among young females. From 2010 to 2019, median standing broad jump decreased from 234.3 cm (233.8-234.8) to 219.4 cm (218.8-220.1) among males, and from 172.8 cm (172.3-173.3) to 162.5 cm (162.0-163.1) among females. Over the last decade, both measures of muscle strength showed significant declines within each age- and sex-specific quantiles, with the most pronounced decreases observed at the lower quantiles and older ages. The most notable declines were observed in North China, Northeast China, and Middle-West China. As age and weight increased, the initially positive association between body weight and handgrip strength shifted to a progressive weakening, while the association between body weight and standing broad jump changed from non-significant to negative, at -0.51 (95% CI: -0.62 to -0.38) for males and -0.39 (95% CI: -0.52 to -0.24) for females.
This nationally representative study highlights a significant decline in muscle strength among Chinese students over the last decade. The imbalance between increasing body weight and declining muscle strength underscores the urgent need for targeted public health interventions to decrease obesity in Chinese students, to maximize their life-long health expectancy.
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073573 to ZZ; 82204067 to XW; 82273654 to YS).
在过去几十年里，中国学龄儿童和青少年超重及肥胖率迅速上升，但肌肉力量的相应变化尚不清楚。我们旨在阐明国家和省级层面肌肉力量发展的趋势，并调查其是否与体重增加成比例增加。
从中国五次全国学生体质与健康调研（2000年、2005年、2010年、2014年和2019年）中获取了133万名7至22岁儿童和青少年的肌肉力量（上肢握力[kg]和下肢立定跳远[cm]）及体重测量数据。使用t检验研究肌肉力量指标的趋势，并使用Bonferroni校正进行事后两两比较。通过Pearson相关分析评估肌肉指标与体重变化之间的关联。
尽管在最初几轮调查中有所增加，但2010年至2019年间，握力和立定跳远均显著下降。2010年至2019年间，年轻男性的握力中位数从43.9 kg（95%CI 43.7至44.1）降至42.5 kg（42.3至42.8），年轻女性从26.6 kg（26.5至26.7）降至26.0 kg（25.8至26.1）。2010年至2019年间，男性立定跳远中位数从234.3 cm（233.8 - 234.8）降至219.4 cm（218.8 - 220.1），女性从172.8 cm（172.3 - 173.3）降至162.5 cm（162.0 - 163.1）。在过去十年中，两种肌肉力量测量指标在每个年龄和性别的分位数内均显著下降，在较低分位数和较高年龄组中下降最为明显。在中国北方、东北和中西部地区观察到最显著的下降。随着年龄和体重的增加，体重与握力之间最初的正相关关系逐渐减弱，而体重与立定跳远之间的关系从无显著关联变为负相关，男性为 -0.51（95%CI：-0.62至 -0.38），女性为 -0.39（95%CI：-0.52至 -0.24）。
这项具有全国代表性的研究突出了过去十年中国学生肌肉力量的显著下降。体重增加与肌肉力量下降之间的不平衡凸显了针对性公共卫生干预措施的迫切需求，以减少中国学生的肥胖，最大限度地提高他们的终身健康预期寿命。
本研究得到了中国国家自然科学基金的支持（ZZ获得82073573；XW获得82204067；YS获得82273654）。
