Hanoi (VNA) – On March 27, 77 years ago, President Ho Chi Minh made a call on all people to get regular exercise. For years, the improvement of Vietnamese people’s stature and physical strength has been prioritised and received special attention from the Party and the State.
Doing exercise and playing sports regularly not only helps prevent disease and bring many health benefits, but also contributes to improving people’s stature and physical strength.
According to surveys by the General Statistics Office and the National Institute of Nutrition conducted in 2019 and 2020, young Vietnamese men had an average height of 168.1cm, and women 156.2cm. Children in urban areas are 2cm taller than those in rural areas, especially in poor, disaster-prone and mountainous areas. Compared to 10 years ago, the average height of young men increased by 3.7cm and women by 2.6cm.
In particular, the increase rate of the height of Vietnamese people born from 2000 is better than in the previous period, nearly twice as fast as the previous decade. Currently, Vietnam ranks in the top 4 countries with tallest in Southeast Asia (equivalent to Malaysia and following Singapore and Thailand). However, in order to continue to narrow the height gap, Vietnam needs to maintain its height growth in the coming decades.
Therefore, developing physical training and sports is an objective requirement of society, contributing to improving people's health, fitness and quality of life; and investing in physical training and sports is investing in people and the development of the country.
The improvement in Vietnamese people’s height is part of the result of the implementation of the Prime Minister-approved master plan to develop the physical strength and height of Vietnamese people in the 2011-2030 period, which aims to improve the quality of human resources serving the cause of industrialisation and modernisation of the country. Step by step improving the quality of the race and increasing life expectancy of Vietnamese people has been targetted by the State. It also sets a goal to improve the stature of Vietnamese youth. Specifically, the average height of 18-year-old men will be 168.5cm by 2030; and 157.5cm for 18-year-old women.
According to nutritionists, in order to be healthy and improve height, it is necessary to have a nutritious diet because this is one of the important factors for height development. In addition, each person needs to sleep for 8 hours a day, drink enough water, sunbathe, and exercise regularly.
Assoc. Prof., Dr. Vo Tuong Kha, Director of Vietnam Sports Hospital, said that physical exercise contributes to disease prevention and treatment, and increases longevity.
However, he recommended people to choose the right sport, listen to their body's needs, and need a regular and scientific exercise plan to achieve effective results.
To improve the spirit of physical exercise and sports, the Vietnam Sports Administration, the Vietnam Athletics Federation, and social organisations have coordinated many sport tournaments. Recently, the 64th Tien Phong Newspaper National Marathon in 2023 attracted the competition of more than 4,000 people.
Along with running, groups and clubs of other sports such as cycling, volleyball, dance sport, football, badminton, tennis, table tennis and swimming have been set up across the country. Statistics in 2022 show that about 35.6% of Vietnamese people exercise regularly./.
