Overweight & obesity epidemic, temporal trends and regional disparities in physical growth of Vietnamese children

Why this matters for families

In many people’s minds, childhood malnutrition still means being too small or too thin. But in Vietnam’s big cities, a very different problem is rapidly taking center stage: too much weight, too soon. This study tracks the growth of nearly 90,000 children in three major Vietnamese cities over several years, revealing how common overweight and obesity have become, how they differ by city and sex, and what this means for children’s height and long-term health.

A rare, big-picture look at children’s growth

Published data on how Vietnamese children grow are surprisingly scarce. To fill this gap, researchers analyzed more than 200,000 annual health check records from children aged 18 months to 18 years who attended a large private school system in Hanoi, Hochiminh City, and Haiphong between 2018 and 2024. Each visit recorded basic measures: height, weight, age, sex, city, and year. The team then compared these measurements with international World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards, examined trends over time, and looked for differences between cities. They also used the data to build provisional Vietnamese growth charts.

Obesity: an urban childhood epidemic

The most striking finding is how widespread overweight and obesity are among school-age children and teenagers. Among boys aged 5 to 18, nearly half (about 48%) were classified as overweight or obese by WHO criteria more than three times the level that WHO labels a very serious public health problem. For girls in the same age range, more than one in four (about 26%) were overweight or obese, almost double the WHO very high threshold. Boys were affected much more severely than girls, and in boys aged roughly 8 to 13, more than half fell into the overweight or obese range. In contrast, being underweight or very thin was rare in all age groups, suggesting that in this relatively well-off urban group, the dominant nutrition problem is now excess weight, not lack of food.

City-to-city differences and changing trends

The study also reveals important regional contrasts. Haiphong had both the highest rates of overweight and obesity and the shortest average height for boys and girls, compared with Hanoi and Hochiminh City. This means children there are, on average, shorter and heavier for their age than their peers in the other two cities a combination that raises particular concern for future heart and metabolic disease. On a more hopeful note, between 2018 and 2024 the overall proportion of overweight and obese children fell somewhat, especially among boys, suggesting that growing public awareness or school and family actions may be starting to have an impact.

How extra weight reshapes growth in height

The data offer a rare window into how excess body fat changes childrens height patterns. At the start of puberty, children with overweight or obesity were clearly taller than their peers with normal or low body mass index. But their growth spurt slowed earlier. By late adolescence, their final average height was essentially the same as that of children who had stayed in the healthy-weight range. In other words, being heavier made children grow taller earlier, but it did not make them taller adults; instead, their growth curve flattened sooner. By contrast, children who were already taller than average before puberty tended to remain taller than their shorter peers at the end of puberty, regardless of weight, though height differences narrowed over time.

Building local growth charts and looking ahead

Because WHO growth charts are based on children from many countries and may not perfectly fit every population, the researchers also used these Vietnamese data to build height, weight, and body mass index reference curves specifically for Vietnamese children. These can serve as a practical tool for doctors and parents, at least in urban settings, until broader national data become available. However, the authors caution that, given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample, weight-related charts must be interpreted carefully.

What this means for parents and policy makers

For families and health officials, the message is clear: in Vietnams major cities, the primary nutrition threat for children is no longer being too small, but being too heavy. Overweight and obesity are already extremely common, especially among boys, and they are reshaping how children grow. The good news is that recent years show signs of improvement, and childrens average height is increasing. To build on this, the authors argue for strong prevention and control efforts: healthier food environments, more physical activity, regular growth monitoring, and particular attention to hard-hit cities like Haiphong. Acting now can help todays children grow into healthier, taller, and more active adults.

Citation: Ho, N.T., Bangsberg, D., Hermiston, M.L. et al. Overweight & obesity epidemic, temporal trends and regional disparities in physical growth of Vietnamese children. Sci Rep 16, 7515 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37210-w

Keywords: childhood obesity, Vietnamese children, urban health, growth patterns, nutrition transition