Vietnamese are getting taller with the average height for males and females growing by 3.7 and 1.4 centimeters, respectively, in the last 10 years, according to the National Nutrition Census 2020 released by the National Institute of Nutrition on April 15.

The National Nutrition Census 2020 results showed that the average height for men rose to 168.1 centimeters and women to 156.2 centimeters.

The study measured the height of people born in the 2000s, who reached adulthood in 2020 and benefited from a thriving economy and many healthcare programs.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that this nutritional census is of the largest scale ever with the participation of 22,400 households in 25 provinces and cities.

The survey highlighted the average height of Vietnamese people has improved drastically in the 18-year-old youth group. Among children aged five to 19 years old nationwide, the prevalence of stunting declined to 14.8% compared to 23.4% in 2010.

Students play jumping rope at an elementary school in Vietnam, in February 2020. Photo: Hoang Nam

Tuyen added that some 19.6% of children under 5 years old nationwide suffered from stunting, which is considered an average level according to the World Health Organization's classification.

“However, there are still disparities between regions in terms of stunting rates and this rate remains higher in rural and mountainous areas,” Tuyen said.

In 2018 the Vietnamese government launched a nation-wide National Action Plan on Zero Hunger with the goal of lowering malnutrition rates and stunted growth through improved nutrition and sustainable food production.

The US's World Population Review in September 2019 ranked the Vietnamese the fourth shortest people in the world, with an average height of 162.1 centimeters, taller only than Indonesians, Filipinos and Bolivians. In Southeast Asia, Vietnamese are shorter than people in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Moreover, the diet of Vietnamese people has also changed significantly in the past 10 years, Tuyen said.

In 2020, a Vietnamese person had an estimated allotment of 2,023kcal a day, a slight increase compared to that in 2010 with 1,925kcal per person daily.

The average consumption of fruits more than doubled from 2010 to 2020 and vegetable intake increased as well, but both were still well short of recommendations at 77.4% and 66.4%, respectively.

An average Vietnamese person now consumes 136.4 grams of meat daily, compared to just 84 grams in 2010. The figure for people in urban areas is even higher at 155.3 grams per person per day.

Noticeably, the rate of overweight and obesity increased from 8.5% in 2010 to 19% in 2020, mainly in urban areas. The National Institute of Nutrition’s report noted the rate of overweight and obese children is 26.8% in urban areas, 18.3% in rural districts and 6.9% in mountainous regions.

The health ministry has set a target of controlling obesity and overweight among children under five years at 5% in rural areas and 10% in urban areas.