Nearly 89 percent of Shanghai's toddlers are reared by their grandparents, but 70 percent of families are not satisfied with this practice, the Shanghai Morning Post reported today.

These families call for novel approaches to nurture children at pre-school age, as child-rearing by grandparents has proven insufficient in the development of children, the report said.

Of the 200,000 children under the age of three, 79.7 percent were reared by their grandparents, according to a sample survey conducted by the city's family planning association. The survey covered 34 neighborhoods and townships.

Traditional child-rearing focuses more on nutrition and intelligence development rather than tapping a child's emotions and social abilities, the report said.

This can cause several problems that might impede a child's development. For example, children living with their grandparents are prone to become dependent on others, precocious, willful and lacking in team spirit, the report said.

Shanghai had 1.58 million children aged below 14 at the end of 2006. Another 175,000 babies are expected to be born next year. Couples are also choosing to have babies next year because of the Beijing Olympic Games, an auspicious event for the nation.

(Shanghai Daily November 23, 2007)