It seems like everyone wants to be a little bit taller (and a baller) these days. A recent report revealed that Vietnam’s neighbors are not only taller, but enjoy a faster growth speed amongst their populations. To win the ‘war on short’, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a $287 million plan to raise Vietnam’s average height by 4cm.

Figures from the March report that Vietnamese have only grown 4cm in the last 35 years have been attributed to poor diet and lack of physical activity. The $287 million project will focus on providing people aged 1 – 18 better access to physical education and nutrition with the hopes that the average height will increase by 4cm by 2030:

“Lam Quang Thanh, deputy director of the sports department at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the project aims to raise the average height of Vietnamese women at age 18 to 157.5 centimeters (5 feet 2 inches) and men to 168.5 centimeters (5 feet 6 inches).”

Head of the project, Dam Quoc Chinh, said that the height and health of Vietnamese lags far behind developed countries, and that while the central government funding is vital, contributions from local governments and private sources are vital to the projects long-term success:

“The project will affect almost everyone as it is about health, thus we hope we can raise a lot of money from the community,” Hai said, noting contribution from the central government's budget will only have a stimulation effect.”

Considering the rapidly rising rate of obesity among the country’s youth, the additional nutrition and physical activity should kill 2 birds with one stone.

[ThanhNien // Photo via Galen Stolee]