HANOI, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The height and weight of Vietnamese juveniles, especially those in the age bracket of 0-15, are lowered than the world's averages, local media reports said Friday.

    Now 15-year-old local girls and boys are 151 cm and 155.5 cm respectively. Under the World Health Organization's standards, thefigures must be 161.8 cm and 169 cm.

    The height and weight gap between urban children and rural peers is very large. On average, a five-year-old child in the capital city of Hanoi is 5 cm higher than a rural peer, and the gap is widened to 15 cm when they reach the age of 15.

    Also, a number of Vietnamese teenagers suffer from diet-relateddiseases such as goiter and iron deficiency. The percentage of pupils suffering from goiter is 9.9 percent in Hanoi and 16.4 percent in the northern province of Thai Binh.

    Improper diet of local juveniles is the main cause of the situation, said the reports, explaining that many of them were born healthy, but grow slowly due to shortage of some nutrients. Family meals meet only 84 percent of their energy demand.

    To deal with the situation, Vietnam will supply meals with proper diet with such micro-nutrients as iodine, vitamin A and lysine to pupils at more schools nationwide.

    In a broader move, the country plans to pour 614.5 billion Vietnamese dong (39.3 million US dollars) to improve physical health of its citizens and increase the height of youths by 3-4 centimeters by 2010.

    The ambitious plan, expected to kick off in 2005, will focus onapply more scientific findings on nutrition and physical training in educational establishments and families. Pupils at the age of 6-18 are to benefit most from the plan, under which 90 percent of the investment will be spent on the Ministry of Education and Training and schools.

    The average height of Vietnamese people increased to 164.14 cm for men in 2001 from 158 cm in 1975. The respective figures for women were 153.88 cm and 149 cm.

    The percentages of local people aged 18-22 meeting the height standards, 165 cm for male or 155 cm for female, are 39.1 and 31.9percent respectively, shows a recent statistics by the Ministry ofHealth.

    On average, an urban youth is 158.5 cm high, while the rural counterpart's height stands at 157.4 cm. Enditem