In early August, while cheering for her 11th-grade son at a school football match, Ngoc, 44, of Hanoi was surprised by the height of the players.
All 11 members of the team were 1.7-1.8 meters tall, with her son standing at 1.75 m.
Many of the parents who had come to cheer, like Ngoc, found themselves only reaching their children’s shoulders, even girl students.
Ngoc is 1.52 m tall while her husband is 1.6 m, below the current Vietnamese average, but many children of her son’s generation are well above average.
“My son’s height improved a lot thanks to healthy food and exercise from an early age,” Ngoc says.
Most families these days pay attention to their children’s height, she adds.
Professor Dr. Le Danh Tuyen, former director of the National Institute of Nutrition, explains that when measuring the average height of a population, scientists rely on the height of young adults as it reflects the growth process over time.
It is observed that the height of both men and women increases by 1.5-2 cm every decade if there is no war or prolonged economic crisis, he says.
“Clearly, with 100 years of war defending the nation, we Vietnamese have suffered consequences for the health of the population, particularly in terms of stature.”
The first national nutrition survey in 1985 found no change in the height of men and women compared to 10 years earlier, with the average at 159.8 cm for men and 150.5 cm for women.
By 2010 they had increased to 164.4 cm and 153.4 cm and by 2020 to 168.1 cm for men and 156.2 cm for women.
“This was impressive acceleration in height growth, similar to Japan’s growth from the 1960s to the 1980s,” Tuyen says.
Scientists view this as a “catch-up” phase, which typically occurs when the economy develops, healthcare during the first 1,000 days of life is prioritized, and essential micronutrient deficiencies are addressed, he says.
Dr. Truong Hong Son, deputy general secretary of the Vietnam Medical Association, and director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine, says Vietnam no longer belongs to the “shortest” group in Southeast Asia, and ranks fourth in average height behind Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
Globally, according to the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a network of health scientists around the world that provides rigorous and timely data on risk factors for non-communicable diseases for 201 countries and territories, Vietnam currently ranks 153rd out of 201 countries and territories in average height, up from 181st in 2017.
But the current height of Vietnamese people is still behind the global average. According to the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, for adults born around 1996, the global average height for men is approximately 171 cm and for women about 160-162 cm.
Experts believe the increase in average Vietnamese height is not accidental but the result of a comprehensive strategy implemented systematically and persistently over recent decades, particularly in the area of nutrition.
An important starting point was the “Child Malnutrition Prevention Program” launched in 1998. This nationwide intervention focused on improving nutrition for children, especially during the first 1,000 days of life, considered the critical period that determines 60% of a person’s growth.
Another milestone was the government’s issuance of a 2016 decree on fortifying food with micronutrients to ensure the populace does not suffer from deficiencies (as mandated by 126 countries).
This, alongside Vietnam’s economic development, has greatly improved daily food consumption quality.
The consumption of calories, vegetables and meat has all increased.
The process has been further supported by other interventions, especially in schools as children are let to drink milk at school and participate in physical activities for holistic development.
Public awareness has also shifted focus to developing the physical and intellectual health in children, including height.
“The average height of today’s young Vietnamese is obtained from those born around the year 2000. They are the generation benefiting directly from nutrition and health programs introduced at that time,” Son said, adding that no quick, short-term, or superficial interventions can bring about real improvements in a nation’s average height.
Students at a high school in Ho Chi Minh City take a photo together after finishing their graduation exam on June 25, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
The main goal of the National Plan for Physical and Stature Development for Vietnamese People in 2011-2030 and the National Nutrition Strategy for 2021-2030 is to continue increasing the average height of Vietnamese youths.
The goal is to reach an average of 168.5 cm for 18-year-old men and 157.5 cm for women by 2030.
Tuyen recalls a study done by Dr. Nguyen Viet, director of the center for Southeast Asian Prehistory, who found from “skeletons of around 60 adult Dong Son people excavated at Dong Xa Village [in the northern Hung Yen Province] in 2004 that the average height was 1.4-1.5 m for women, and 1.45-1.65 m for men.”
He was referring to people of the ancient Dong Son culture, that existed from 1,000 BCE to 100-200 CE, who were famous for bronze casting and developing wet rice agriculture.
They lived mainly in the northern delta.
Skeletons of peoples who lived elsewhere during the comparable period, displayed at the London Maritime Museum in Britain, indicate similar heights for men and women.
“Clearly, according to the genetic model, the Vietnamese are not short compared to other people,” Tuyen says.
Today Vietnamese football and volleyball players, both male and female, no longer lag behind other Southeast Asian countries in terms of physical stature.
Vietnam is setting higher goals to reach the height levels of Japan, Korea and other countries in future.
Son of the Vietnam Medical Association points out that height is a combination of multiple factors and not based on any one factor, and should be developed comprehensively.
Genetics is an important factor but not the only one, he says, pointing to the growth acceleration seen in Japan as a clear example.
Before 1945 Japanese people were of relatively modest height, but now they rank among the tallest in Asia, he says.
Life-cycle care, exclusive breastfeeding of infants and fortifying food with micronutrients are key factors that need to be implemented, he says.
Nutritional interventions must be carried out consistently and nationwide, with specific targets for different regions and groups and priority for pregnant women and children, he says.
Every year nearly two million children are born in Vietnam.
Nutrition education for mothers and interventions against malnutrition for newborns must be sustained to prevent malnutrition and improve the average height of the population, Son says.
“Our country will soar if our human resources develop comprehensively in both physical and mental health,” Tuyen adds.