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children getting bigger but losing out on free bus rides
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-02-17 15:05

China has given children free bus fares, amusement park admission and other services since 1949 so long as they are below age 7 and under 1.1 meters (3 foot 7 inches)tall.

But many under 7 are now excluded because, with better nutrition and health care, even the average children getting bigger but losing out on free bus rides age 5-year-old is 1.2 meters (4 feet)tall, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

Some local governments have raised the height limit. But most haven't, causing a lot of complaints by parents.

``My son is just 5 years old, but I am often asked to buy a ticket for him when we take buses,'' one aggrieved mother in Beijing was quoted as saying.

Today's average 5-year-old is 10 centimeters (four inches) taller than in 1949, according to Xinhua.

Chinese children are growing at a faster rate because they are eating more these days, almost a quarter of children in Shanghai, China's most prosperous city, are reported to be malnourished because they eat too much junk food and not enough fruits and vegetables.

 
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