China health: rising rates of childhood obesity, myopia, tooth decay and mental health problems affecting tens of millions, report warns
- The rate of obesity among children grew from 15.5 per cent in 2010, to more than 24 per cent in 2019
- The report also warned that tens of millions of people aged under 17 had ‘emotional problems’ and displayed ‘troublesome behaviour’
China has missed its goals in saving the younger generation from overweight, shortsightedness and emotional and behavioural problems despite efforts to ease students’ burden in the past decade, according to a study by a government-backed research institute.
The rates of Chinese schoolchildren with obesity, myopia and tooth decay all continued to rise over the past decade, with a government plan for the same period to reverse these trends failing to meet its targets, said a report on children’s development issued by the China National Children’s Centre on Wednesday.
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More children are suffering from mental health issues, the report also warned, citing a 2018 survey that found about 30 million people aged under 17 had “emotional problems” and “troublesome behaviour”.
Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said the trend of growing obesity, myopia and mental health issues have largely been caused by the heavy academic workload the country’s education system places on young people.
Although children are given relatively more time to exercise and rest amid educational reforms to ease the burden of study, highlighted by the “double-reduction policy” that banned all for-profit tutoring in August this year, children still face great study pressure because they’re still being ranked based only on examination scores, he said.
“Such evaluation measures place direct pressure on each child, which lingers till college entrance and employment and thus becomes a systematic issue,” he said.
The report looked at changes in a series of health indicators among children from primary schools and secondary schools, often aged between 6 and 18, between the years 2010 and 2019.
The rate of obese children grew from 15.5 per cent in 2010, to over 20 per cent in 2014 and more than 24 per cent in 2019, it found.
Rates of myopia, or shortsightedness, increased from about 57 per cent in 2010, to 62 per cent in 2014, and 68 per cent in 2019.
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The occurrence of tooth decay has also risen from over 15 per cent in 2010 to 22 per cent in 2019.
The three indicators “failed to reach the goals” set in a national plan on children’s development for the 2011-2020 period, which vowed to control the prevalence of these health problems, the report said.
However, exercise participation has increased in the past decade, and the overall fitness level of older children has slightly improved in the past five years, the report found.
Mental health is becoming an increasing challenge among Chinese adolescents as self-injury and suicide are occurring more frequently, it warned.
Quoting a national survey published last year, it said over 17 per cent of children aged between 6 and 16 had emotional and behavioural problems and said this figure was rising.