Physique condition among primary and high school Kazak students, 2005-2010

Objective To examine the variation in body shape and its related factors among primary and high school Kazak students in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) during the period from 2005 to 2010 and to provide a basis for improving the health of the students.Methods Data on body shape among Kazak students aged 7-18 years were extracted from the datasets of the two surveys on physique condition of primary and high school students in Xinjiang carried out in 2005 and 2010.SPSS 17.0 was used in analyses on body shape indexes of the students.Results Generally speaking,the body shape indexes increased significantly in 2010 compared to those in 2005 among the Kazak students,with the average increases of 0.7 cm for height and 0.3 kg for weight among the male students and average increases of 1.1 cm for height,1.0 kg for weight,and 0.9 cm for chest circumference among the female students,except for the decrease of 1.0 cm for chest circumference among the male students(P<0.05 for all).Conclusion The body shape indexes increased generally but some of the indexes declined among primary and high school Kazak students in Xinjiang during the 5-year period and the changes were influenced by school and family environment and individual behaviors of the students.