Objective To understand the current situation of growth and development of primary and secondary school students in Danyang City,and to provide scientific basis for exploring preventive measures. Methods Stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select students from two primary schools,two junior high schools and one senior high school in urban and rural areas for physical examination.SPSS 19.0 statistical software was used for statistical analysis. Results A total of 17 570 primary and secondary school students were investigated,including 9 718 primary school students,4 120 junior high school students and 3 732 senior high school students.Overall,the height and weight of primary and middle school students increased with age.The median height and weight of urban students were 155.0 cm and 47.5 kg,respectively.The median height and weight of township students were 147.0 cm and 41.0 kg,respectively.The differences in height and weight between urban and rural students were statistically significant (Z_height =-19.210,P<0.001;Z_weight =-18.312,P<0.001).The median height and weight of local students were 157.0 cm and 49.0 kg,respectively.The median height and weight of students with non-local household registration were 146.0 cm and 40.0 kg,respectively.There was significant difference in height and weight between students with local and non-local household registrations (Z_height =-25.810,P<0.001;Z_weight =-25.371,P<0.001).The height development grades of urban students and local students were better than township students and non-local household registration students,while junior high school students were better than primary school students and senior high school students.The detection rates of malnutrition,overweight and obesity were 3.44%,18.71% and 15.64%,respectively.The prevalence of malnutrition in urban students,male students and local students were lower than that in rural students,female students,and non-local household registration students,respectively.However,the prevalence of overweight and obesity in in rural students,female students and non-local household registration students were lower than that in urban students,male students,and local students.The detection rate of malnutrition in primary school students was lower than that in junior high school students and senior high school students.The detection rates of overweight and obesity in senior high school students were lower than that in primary school students and junior high school students. Conclusion The growth and development of primary and middle school students in Danyang City is good,but the rates of overweight and obesity are on the rise.Attention should be paid to the problem of overweight and obesity and scientific prevention and control measures should be carried out.