As reported in the Straits Times 17 Sep 2017 : https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/upsized-uniforms-as-kids-get-heavierAs reported in The New Paper 18 Sep 2017 : https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/school-uniforms-getting-bigger-obesity-levels-rise
Two years ago, Madam Doris Yeo, managing director of Shanghai School Uniforms, had to disguise her shock when a 13-year-old boy walked into her shop looking to get a uniform with a 59-inch (149.8-cm) waistline – a size typically used by obese adults.
With such requests becoming more commonplace, school uniform manufacturers have extended their ready-made size range upwards to cope with the burgeoning waistlines of overweight schoolchildren.
Madam Yeo, whose company has been in the business for over 50 years, said: “Our children are getting bigger. We have to make bigger sizes now compared to the past, especially for the shorts and trousers.”
Shanghai School Uniforms now carries an extensive 12 sizes – up from 10 sizes – for boys’ bottoms.
Primary school shorts run from a 20-inch waistline to 42 inches, while secondary school trousers are from 24 to 46 inches. There are plans to go beyond even the biggest sizes it currently offers “to avoid the time needed to do custom-made uniforms”, which cost parents about 30 per cent more.
Larger uniform sizes are perhaps a consequence of the rising obesity rates among schoolchildren, which have risen in recent years from 10 per cent in 2000 to 12 per cent in 2014.