Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.

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The aim of this study was to find peculiarities in processes of growth and development of the child and adolescent in different megalopolises, Moscow and Kiev, on the background of various social and economic changes in society and standards of living of the child population. Comparison analysis of physical development of Moscow and Kiev children did not show statistically significant differences in body length except in boys aged between 10 and 16 years and in girls aged between 12 and 17 years. The changes in physical development of Kiev children demonstrate a domination of gracilization, accompanied by significant low values of body mass with high values of body length, especially in girls. The study showed that modern adolescents of both cities exceed their peers from previous generation in body length. Chest circumference in all ages of both sexes and body mass starting from 10 years of age were higher in adolescents from Moscow. We found a negative trend to the increase in the number of overweight Moscow children in the studied dynamics. (Int J Biomed. 2016; 6(4):279-282.)