Secular changes in height, body weight, body mass index and pubertal development in male children and adolescents in Krakow, Poland

This study examined the secular changes in height, body weight, body mass index and pubertal development in male children and adolescents in Krakow (Poland) over the past 80 years, with an emphasis on the last decade (2000-2010). The survey of the population of Krakow is a continuation of observations conducted in that area for many years. The analysis aims to determine whether in the last decade Krakow still witnessed the secular trend, and what form the trend took. The body height and weight, and body mass index (BMI), of 1862 boys aged 3.5-18.5 years were analysed, against the background of a survey series from the years 1938 (N = 1801), 1971 (N = 2045), 1983 (N = 3124) and 2000 (N = 2328). The mean body height, in almost all age categories, was greater than in the past; however the final height over the last decade remained the same. The mean values of body weight and BMI increased, especially in the last decade. Also, an acceleration of puberty in boys was observed. The last 10 years saw an over 3-month decrease in the age of initial appearance of pubic hair in boys. In conclusion, the last decade saw cessation of the growing taller trend: maximum body height stabilized at approximately 179 cm, but weight and BMI increased. Also, a distinct acceleration of puberty was noticed. Lack of height increase, at the same time as weight gain and puberty acceleration, indicate a progressing developmental disharmony.     

Secular trend in body height and weight of Australian children and adolescents

Secular changes in growth and maturation have been well documented in various world populations, with secular increase especially noticeable in the developed countries. To assess the trend in both adult size and tempo of growth we compared the data on stature and body weight obtained in 1992-1993 from 1,804 Melbourne school students aged 5 to 17 with historical data collected from white Australians during the last 100 years. We illustrate the age-dependent trend in stature and body weight by means of regression surfaces. These were constructed by fitting local regression models to historical data and by simple plots showing the overall, and per decade, secular increase in both these measures at peripubertal and adult ages. Because of limited information on sample sizes and variability provided by the historical data, statistical comparisons have been performed only between the present 1992-1993 survey and two earlier independent surveys conducted in 1985 and 1970. The results have shown secular increase in adult stature over the last century, with the rate of increase varying between 0.4 and 2.1 cm/decade in males and 0.01 and 1.6 cm/decade in females. While secular increase in stature has significantly slowed down during the last two decades, the increase in body weight is still continuing at a high rate, and this increase is more pronounced in females. The period of strong secular increase, especially in the tempo of growth, coincided both with the shift toward earlier menarche and the improvement of socioeconomic conditions of the Australian population. The need for further studies to identify factors determining the continuing increase in body weight is emphasized, and caution in using the existing national growth standards for stature and weight is recommended.     

Juvenile onset inflammatory bowel disease: height and body mass index in adult life.

OBJECTIVE--To establish the frequency of permanent growth failure in juvenile onset inflammatory bowel disease. DESIGN--Measurement of height and weight in a geographically based cohort at a mean of 14 (range 5.2-29.5) years after diagnosis. Comparison with data from surveys of British adults in 1980 and 1987. SETTING--NHS hospitals throughout Scotland. SUBJECTS--105 Children admitted to hospital during 1968-83 who fulfilled diagnostic criteria for Crohn''s disease or ulcerative colitis and lived in specified regions. 87 were aged over 18 and living in Britain at follow up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Height, weight, body mass index, and sexual maturity. RESULTS--All patients were sexually mature. 67 of the 70 patients examined were of normal height, and three women with Crohn''s disease were abnormally short. Weight and body mass index were normal in all patients with ulcerative colitis. Patients with Crohn''s disease had significantly lower weight than those with ulcerative colitis (men 66.8 (9.5) kg v 78.4 (13.8) kg, P = 0.04; women 51.5 (8.2) kg v 63.0 (12.1) kg, P < 0.02) irrespective of disease activity. Body mass index was also significantly lower than the normal distribution (P < 0.01). Growth retardation was not mentioned as a problem for any of the 17 patients interviewed only by telephone. CONCLUSIONS--Despite growth retardation in the teenage years most young people with inflammatory bowel disease will eventually achieve normal height. Reasons for lower weight in patients with Crohn''s disease remain to be established.     

Reference values for height, weight and body mass index of German born Turkish children

Turkish children and adolescents born in Northern Europe grow different from native Northern European children, but reference values for height, weight and BMI for these children do not exist. With this study, we intend to provide growth standards for German born Turkish children. Data were obtained from 797 Turkish children and adolescents born in Germany age 0-25.8 years (males), respectively 0-18.3 years (females). We generated synthetic reference values for height, weight, and BMI. The results show that Turkish children and adolescents are heavier after the age of 6 years, and that they remain short after puberty. Eighteen year old Turkish men, and 15-year-old Turkish women are shorter (males 175.2 cm vs. 180.4 cm, p < 0.05; females 159.3 cm vs. 165.0 cm, p < 0.05), and heavier than Germans. Six out of 53 young Turkish men and 9 out of 100 young Turkish women were obese. Twelve out of 53 young Turkish men (23%) and 18 out of 100 young Turkish women (18%) have fallen below the 3rd centile for height. It can be concluded that growth of Turkish children and adolescents born in Germany significantly differs from native children. Reference LMS values for body height, weight and BMI of German born Turkish boys and girls are presented.     

Determinants of variation in adult body height

Final body height is achieved as the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The aim of this article is to review past studies on body height that have followed different scientific traditions. In modern Western societies, about 20% of variation in body height is due to environmental variation. In poorer environments, this proportion is probably larger, with lower heritability of body height as well as larger socioeconomic body height differences. The role of childhood environment is seen in the increase in body height during the 20th century simultaneously with the increase in the standard of living. The most important non-genetic factors affecting growth and adult body height are nutrition and diseases. Short stature is associated with poorer education and lower social position in adulthood. This is mainly due to family background, but other environmental factors in childhood also contribute to this association. Body height is a good indicator of childhood living conditions, not only in developing countries but also in modern Western societies. Future studies combining different scientific traditions in auxology are needed to create a more holistic view of body height.     

One hundred years of growth: the evolution of height, mass, and body composition in Australian children, 1899-1999.

This paper summarizes 41 reports on the height and mass of Australian children aged between 5.00 and 16.99 years between 1899 and 1999. In all, data on 644,613 children were collated, including individual data on 68,196 children. After primary data treatment to correct for methodological and statistical artifacts, regressions were calculated to quantify the rate of change of height and mass over time. Distributional analysis was used to probe for changes in skewness of mass values, indicative of differentially greater increases at higher percentiles. In addition, studies reporting skin fold measurements were analyzed to assess changes in subcutaneous adiposity since 1976. The results show that height has been increasing at a rate of about 1.02 cm.decade(-1), and mass at a rate of about 0.99 kg.decade(-1). The height and mass of children continue to increase, after a slowing down in the rate of increase between 1950 and 1980. Increases in mass at the higher percentiles have been much greater than at lower percentiles, particularly since the mid-1980s, suggesting that the incidence of obesity is increasing in Australian children. Furthermore, a steady linear increase in subcutaneous skin fold thicknesses since 1976 suggests that the overall level of fatness is increasing in Australian children. These findings indicate that Australian children are following trends becoming evident elsewhere in the developed world, and that we may see an increasingly large subset of increasingly obese children in the early years of the 21st century.     

遗传和环境因素对儿童青少年身体高度及其比例的影响

目前有关儿童青少年坐高、下肢长及其比值的报道多为非双生子人群的研究。为了解遗传和环境因素对儿童青少年坐高、下肢长及坐高与下肢长比值影响的相对大小,我们对796对6～18岁双生子的身高和坐高进行了测量,计算下肢长及坐高与下肢长比值,采用结构方程模型分析其遗传和环境相对效应。结果发现,校正年龄后,男女15～18岁年龄组坐高和下肢长的遗传度(0.63～0.78)均分别高于同性别低年龄段儿童青少年(0.31～0.68);坐高与下肢长比值的遗传度除9～11岁女生(0.84)外,其他年龄组均较低(男0.16～0.46,女0.21～0.57);共同环境因素和特殊环境因素对6～14岁儿童青少年各指标的作用较大。本研究提示,在快速发育时期,坐高、下肢长和坐高与下肢长比值对环境因素更为敏感,遗传度较低;机体越成熟,其遗传效应更强。     

Genetics of adult body mass and maintenance of adult body mass in captive baboons (Papio hamadryas subspecies)

Adult body mass and changes in mass during an individual's life are important indicators of general health and reproductive fitness. Therefore, characterization of the factors that influence normal variation in body mass has important implications for colony management and husbandry. The main objective of this study was to quantify the genetic contribution to adult body mass and its maintenance in baboons. Intra-individual mean and variance in body mass were calculated from multiple weight measures available for each of 1,614 animals at least 10 years of age. Heritabilities were estimated using maximum likelihood methods. Mean adult body mass had a significant heritability (50%) as did variance in adult body mass (12%). The sexes differed in several respects: on average females were smaller than males and had greater variability in adult body mass; mean and variance in body mass increased with age in females only; and number of offspring showed a significant positive relationship with body mass in females only. There were significant differences between subspecies in body mass as well as ability to maintain body mass. These results indicate that there is a significant genetic influence on body mass and its maintenance, and suggest that different factors influence changes in body mass with age as well as body mass maintenance in male and female baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 42:281–288, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Changes in BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Cracow, Poland, 1971-2000.

The aim of this study is to examine changes in prevalence of overweight and obesity, using International Obesity Task Force criteria, in three cohorts of children and youth living in Cracow, Poland, in 1971, 1983 and 2000. Rates of overweight and obesity doubled among boys and girls, from 7.5% and 6.5% in 1971, to 15.2% and 11.8% in the year 2000. The greatest increases in prevalence occurred in the youngest age groups (7-12 years for boys and 7-10 years for girls), increases being less extensive among adolescents, and lowest of all in the oldest age groups (16-18 years in boys and 14-18 years in girls). The absence of a positive secular trend in BMI among adolescent females relative to males may be due to sociocultural pressures associated with transition to a free market economy in Poland. The extent to which girls attempt to achieve the ideal body, as portrayed by media and society more generally, increases across adolescence.     

Social contrasts in the incidence of obesity among adult large-city dwellers in Poland in 1986 and 1996.

The incidence of obesity, defined as the fraction of persons with BMIs exceeding 30-0, was examined in two birth cohorts of 40-50-year-old occupationally active inhabitants of the city of Wroc?aw, Poland. In both cohorts and both genders obesity increased monotonically with decreasing position on a three-level educational scale. During the 1986-1996 decade obesity increased dramatically among males with trade school education only; concomitant shifts were much smaller or absent in the college-educated groups. The contrast in obesity between the opposite ends of the educational scale has widened markedly in both genders; and the between-gender gap has declined somewhat.     

Relation between fat mass, fat free mass and ventilatory function in children and adolescents

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relation between fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM) and ventilatory function in children and adolescents. 1 174 healthy children and adolescents (583 males and 591 females) aged 10-18 years were selected from Heilongjiang Province through random sampling by means of questionnaire and physical examination, and measured for height, weight, waist to hip ratio (WHR), FM, FFM and ventilatory function. The data were analyzed by means of independent-samples t test, Pearson correlation analysis and multi-factors regression analysis. Regardless of sex, an independent positive correlation was found (P<0.001) between age and FFM index (FFMI). FM index (FMI) correlated negatively with age in males (P<0.001), but positively with age in females (P<0.001). Regardless of sex, FFMI correlated positively with forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow at 25% of forced vital capacity (FEF25%), FEF50%, and maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF) (P<0.05), while negatively with FEV1/FVC (P<0.01). FFMI was correlated positively with FEF75% in males (P<0.05), but not correlated in females. In males, FMI correlated negatively with FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEF, FEF25%, FEF50%, FEF75% and MMEF (P<0.05), but not correlated with FVC. No correlation was found between the ventilatory function indices and FMI in females. Except FEV1/FVC and FEF75% in males, the effect of FFMI in predicting ventilatory function was higher than FMI regardless of sex. Moreover, the predicting effect of FFMI was higher in males than that in females. Growth spurt of lung function occurred in the ages of 12-15 years in males, while in the ages of 12, 13 and 18 years in females. During the period of growth spurt of lung function, regardless of sex, the effect of FFMI in predicting the lung function was higher than that of age. In conclusion, regardless of sex, FFMI correlates positively with ventilatory function, as a reflection of muscle mass. The effect of FFM in predicting ventilatory function is higher in males than that in females. FM correlates negatively with ventilatory function in males, but not in females. The rapid growth of height and FFM are possibly the main reasons for growth spurt of lung function.