Growth and Development Status of Shanghai Students, 1979-2000

Objective To understand growth and development status and secular growth trend among Shanghai students of primary and secondary schools. Methods According to program for the national survey of students constitution and health, a stratified cluster sampling method was used,and the statistical methods which were requested in the program were used to data analyses. Results There were significant differences in some morphological indices including height, weight and chest circumference between urban students and rural students, and between boys and girls in Shanghai, but the significance was reduced. These morphological indices were greater as compared with data collected in the past years( P 0.01). Boys had greater Vervaeck index than girls, and urban students had greater the index than rural students except girls in age group 16-18 years. The average age at menarche was 11.86 years in urban girls, 12.92 years in rural girls, and the average age of first spontaneous nocturnal emission was 14.55 years in urban boys and 14.02 years in rural boys.Conclusions Shanghai students aged 7-18 years are still in steady growth period, the age at menarche in Shanghai girls and the age of first spontaneous nocturnal emission in Shanghai boys have fallen slightly over the last 20 years.