The Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission and Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau jointly launched a survey on the health and physical development of the city’s primary and secondary school students Tuesday.
This is the city’s first large and comprehensive survey, which marks the start of exploring a model integrating student nutritional health management and disease prevention, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
The survey, led by the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and the Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, will involve the city’s over 5,500 students in 27 primary and secondary schools.
Multidimensional data and information such as height and weight, waist and hip circumference, body composition, bone age, exercise, sleep, nutritional knowledge and health literacy will be obtained through questionnaires, physical examinations, blood tests and special instrument and equipment auxiliary examinations.
Shenzhen students’ physical examination data showed that students’ overweight and obesity rates increased to 22.5 percent in five years from 2016 to 2020 and increased by nearly 3 percentage points in 2020 compared to the previous school year. Meanwhile, malnutrition rate stood at 9.4 percent.
Based on Shenzhen’s estimated 1.8 million primary and secondary school students in the 2021 school year, the city has more than 400,000 overweight and obese students and 168,500 malnourished students.
Chronic diseases such as hyperuricemia and diabetes, which are caused by nutrition-related problems, are affecting people at a younger age, said the Daily report. These chronic diseases not only seriously endanger teenagers’ physical and mental health, but also generate huge medical expenses and increase the burden on families.