Growth and nutritional status of male adolescent laborers in Ankara, Turkey

Undernutrition, pathogenic agents, and poor living conditions are of primary importance in the evaluation of adverse environmental conditions' effects on human growth; but child labor (an equally significant factor, especially in underdeveloped countries) is generally overlooked or ignored. The aim of this study is to focus on this subject and clarify the effects of labor on the physical growth and nutritional status of child and adolescent laborers. In this study, the height and weight of 532 male adolescent laborers aged 13.5-18.5 years and their non-laboring peers (n = 451) (the control group) were measured by standard anthropometric techniques and equipment. The individuals of both groups come from lower socioeconomic strata and share similar living conditions. Data were transformed to z-scores, using the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention's 2000 growth charts. The analyses show that the z-scores for height-for-age, weight-for-age, and body mass index (BMI)-for-age were negative in both groups. The z-scores of laborers' height-for-age and weight-for-age values lie below the controls', but there is no significant difference between the two groups' BMI-for-age scores. In the laboring group, the percentages of stunting (-2 SD of height-for-age), underweight (-2 SD of weight-for-age), and wasting (-2 SD of BMI-for-age) were 14.3, 2.6, and 0.2, respectively. These values suggest that malnutrition is not a common problem among adolescent laborers living in Ankara; but laboring is an important cause of faltering in growth, particularly in linear growth, in less or underdeveloped economic environments.     

北京市幼儿园2—6岁儿童生长情况

1985年5月—8月,作者对北京市幼儿园833名2—6岁儿童进行了人体测量调查,并对所获得的数据进行了统计分析。结果表明2—6岁儿童身高增长较快,平均每年增加70毫米,身体各部分的长度变化基本与身高的增长相协调;围度的变异范围大于长度的变异范围。同1975年调查结果相比,儿童的体重、身高、胸围等项目数值都有所增加,但身高的增加速度已减慢。     

Body mass and stature estimation based on the first metatarsal in humans

Archaeological assemblages often lack the complete long bones needed to estimate stature and body mass. The most accurate estimates of body mass and stature are produced using femoral head diameter and femur length. Foot bones including the first metatarsal preserve relatively well in a range of archaeological contexts. In this article we present regression equations using the first metatarsal to estimate femoral head diameter, femoral length, and body mass in a diverse human sample. The skeletal sample comprised 87 individuals (Andamanese, Australasians, Africans, Native Americans, and British). Results show that all first metatarsal measurements correlate moderately to highly (r = 0.62-0.91) with femoral head diameter and length. The proximal articular dorsoplantar diameter is the best single measurement to predict both femoral dimensions. Percent standard errors of the estimate are below 5%. Equations using two metatarsal measurements show a small increase in accuracy. Direct estimations of body mass (calculated from measured femoral head diameter using previously published equations) have an error of just over 7%. No direct stature estimation equations were derived due to the varied linear body proportions represented in the sample. The equations were tested on a sample of 35 individuals from Christ Church Spitalfields. Percentage differences in estimated and measured femoral head diameter and length were less than 1%. This study demonstrates that it is feasible to use the first metatarsal in the estimation of body mass and stature. The equations presented here are particularly useful for assemblages where the long bones are either missing or fragmented, and enable estimation of these fundamental population parameters in poorly preserved assemblages.     

Gender-specific growth patterns of transversal body dimensions in Croatian children and youth (2 to 18 years of age)

In a cross-sectional study of growth, 5,260 healthy children of both sexes from Zagreb (Croatia) aged 2 to 18 years were measured. Six transversal body dimensions were studied: biacromial, transverse chest, antero-posterior chest, biiliocristal, bicondylar humerus and bicondylar femur diamters. A significant increase in body diameters has been observed until the age of 14 to 15 in girls and until the age of 16 in boys, showing that girls have a 1 to 2 years shorter period of growth. Compared to boys of the same age, they achieved larger amounts of final transversal bone size throughout the whole growth period. The most pronounced example was the knee diameter that in girls attained 95% of adult size as early as the age of 10. In both genders, the adult size is achieved earlier in widths of the extremities than in those of the trunk. The studied transversal body segments showed different growth dynamics, which is gender-specific. While sexual dimorphism in pelvic and shoulder diameters emerged with pubertal spurt, gender differences in chest and extremities' diameters started early in life. In all ages, boys had larger chest, elbow and knee diameters. In pubertal age boys gained a significantly larger biacromial diameter (from the age of 13 onwards), while girls exceeded them in biiliocristal diameter (from 10 to 14 years). The findings of gender differences were compared to those reported for other European populations and their growth patters were discussed comparing viewpoints.     

Pattern of adolescent growth among the Brahmin girls--rural-urban variation

A cross-sectional study of adolescent growth was undertaken among the Brahmin girls residing in rural and urban areas of Sagar districts, Madhya Pradesh to evaluate the urban-rural differences. Six anthropometric measurements, such as weight, stature, sitting height, head circumference, upper arm circumference and chest girth are taken into consideration. Though the urban girls show consistently higher values of weight, stature, sitting height and chest girth than the rural girls, but in case of head circumference and upper arm circumference they show consistently lower values. The maximum increment occurs between the ages 13 and 14 years in all the six measurements in both rural and urban girls.     

Allometric patterning in the limb skeleton of bats: Implications for the mechanics and energetics of powered flight

Allometric analysis was employed to compare linear dimensions of forelimb and hindlimb bones (humeri, radii, third and fifth metacarpals, third and fifth manual phalanges, femora, and tibiae) of 227 species of bats and 105 species of nonvolant mammals of varying degrees of phylogenetic affinity to bats. After accounting for body size, all forelimb bones are longer in bats than in nonvolant species, with the exception of humeri and radii of a few highly arboreal primates. Hindlimb bones are generally, but not uniformly, shorter in bats than in other mammals. For the humerus, radius, and metacarpals, midshaft diameters are greater in bats than in their comparably sized relatives. Proximal phalangeal midshaft diameters are statistically indistinguishable from those of other mammals, and distal phalanges show significantly reduced outer diameters. The pattern of relative reduction in wing bone diameters along the wing's proximodistal axis parallels the reduction in bone mineralization along the same axis, and a similar pattern of change in cortical thickness from the smallest wall thicknesses among mammals in the humerus and radius to the greatest wall thicknesses among mammals in the phalanges. The combination of altered cross-sectional geometry and mineralization appears significantly to reduce the mass moment of inertia of the bat wing relative to a theoretical condition in which elongated bones preserve primitive mammalian mineralization levels and patterns of scaling of long bone diameters. This intercorrelated suite of skeletal specializations may significantly reduce the inertial power of flight, contributing significant energetic savings to the total energy budgets of the only flying mammals. J. Morphol. 234: 277–294, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

蒙古族学生体质发育及动态研究

本文报道了1995年蒙古族7－18岁城市学生2315名的体质发育调查结果,指标为身高、体重和胸围。与有关资料比较表明,自70年代末至90年代中蒙古族城市学生体质发育迅速,处于长期趋势的快速阶段。     

Estimation stature from X-rays of metacarpals in the Turkish population

Determination of stature is as important as the determination of sex and age when analyzing and identifying the remains of skeletons. Stature, in an approximate and widespread manner, is determined by the femur and tibia, i.e. those long bones that affect stature directly. However, when long bones are not available or when they are found in a very badly preserved condition that does not permit any estimation on stature, then other bones of the body can also be used for this purpose. The aim of this study is to determine stature with the help of metacarpals in the Turkish population. In this study, by using the X-ray films of metacarpal bones of 100 females and 100 males, regression equations have been set up for 5 metacarpal bones. The coefficients of correlation existing between the metacarpal bones and stature, together with the standard errors of these equations, have been intensively examined in this study. The results of studies conducted by other researchers such as Musgrave & Harneja (1978) and Meadows & Jantz (1992) have been compared with the results of our study. As a result of this comparison, the difference existing between them has been found to be significant according to the results of the t-test (p < 0.05, p < 0.01 and p < 0.001). The significance of such results proves that the general body characteristics and body proportions of populations are differing from each other and therefore specific regression equations for the different populations have to be set up.     

Scaling of the appendicular skeleton of the giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

Giraffes have remarkably long and slender limb bones, but it is unknown how they grow with regard to body mass, sex, and neck length. In this study, we measured the length, mediolateral (ML) diameter, craniocaudal (CC) diameter and circumference of the humerus, radius, metacarpus, femur, tibia, and metatarsus in 10 fetuses, 21 females, and 23 males of known body masses. Allometric exponents were determined and compared. We found the average bone length increased from 340 ± 50 mm at birth to 700 ± 120 mm at maturity, while average diameters increased from 30 ± 3 to 70 ± 11 mm. Fetal bones increased with positive allometry in length (relative to body mass) and in diameter (relative to body mass and length). In postnatal giraffes bone lengths and diameters increased iso‐ or negatively allometric relative to increases in body mass, except for the humerus CC diameter which increased with positive allometry. Humerus circumference also increased with positive allometry, that of the radius and tibia isometrically and the femur and metapodials with negative allometry. Relative to increases in bone length, both the humerus and femur widened with positive allometry. In the distal limb bones, ML diameters increased isometrically (radius, metacarpus) or positively allometric (tibia, metatarsus) while the corresponding CC widths increased with negative allometry and isometrically, respectively. Except for the humerus and femur, exponents were not significantly different between corresponding front and hind limb segments. We concluded that the patterns of bone growth in males and females are identical. In fetuses, the growth of the appendicular skeleton is faster than it is after birth which is a pattern opposite to that reported for the neck. Allometric exponents seemed unremarkable compared to the few species described previously, and pointed to the importance of neck elongation rather than leg elongation during evolution. Nevertheless, the front limb bones and especially the humerus may show adaptation to behaviors such as drinking posture. J. Morphol. 276:503–516, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A developmental constraint on the fledging time of birds

We examined the hypothesis that the rate of bone growth limits the minimum fledging time of birds. Previous observations in California gulls indicate that linear growth of wing bones may be the rate limiting factor in wing development. If bone growth is rate limiting, then birds with relatively long bones for their size could be expected to have longer fledging periods than birds with relatively short bones. We tested this by comparing the length of wing bones, relative to body mass, to the relative length of fledging periods among 25 families. The results support the hypothesis. A strong correlation exists between relative fledging period and relative bone length. Species which have relatively long bones for their body size tend to take longer to fly. In contrast, parameters that influence flight style and performance, such as size of the pectoralis muscle and wing loading, show little or no correlation with fledging time. The analysis also indicates that, when altricial and precocial species are considered together, bone length is more highly correlated with fledging time than is body mass or rate of increase in body mass during growth. These observations suggest that linear growth of bones does limit the growth of avian wings and that it is one of the factors that influences the fledging time of birds.     

中国汉族女性长骨碎片的身高推断

本文作者通过对69副有生前确切资料的中国汉族女性四肢长骨的研究,在女性四肢长骨推断身高的基础上,参考国内外学者的研究方法,选择左右侧肱骨,尺骨,桡骨,股骨,胫骨,腓骨的局部测量项目,其中肱骨8项,尺骨3项,桡骨3项,股骨14项,胫骨8项,腓骨3项,用SPSS软件包对测量项目进行统计分析,建立了中国汉族女性破碎长骨推断身高的回归方程。本文所建方程可以用于中国汉族女性破碎长骨的身高推断,其中肱骨,股骨,胫骨碎片推断身高的效果较好。     

A craniofacial growth maturity gradient for males and females between 4 and 16 years of age

Differential growth of the craniofacial complex implies variation in ontogenetic patterns of development. This investigation quantifies the relative maturity—as defined by percent adult status—of nine cephalometric dimensions and stature. Analysis is based on 663 lateral cephalograms from a mixed longitudinal sample of 26 males and 25 females between 4 and 16 years of age. Graphic comparison of maturity status across the age range shows that variation is intergraded between the neural and somatic growth maturity patterns, as described by head height and stature, respectively. The maturity gradient moves from head height through anterior cranial base, posterior cranial base and maxillary length, upper facial height, corpus length, and ramus height to stature. After 9 years of age ramus height is less mature than stature. Anterior maxillary and mandibular heights diminish during transitional dentition and thereafter exhibit maturity patterns that compare to corpus length. Although females are consistently more mature than males, the gradient of variation between dimensions is sex independent.     

Estimation of total body volume from arm measurements in Punjabi girls aged 10–19 years

Mean values and standard deviations of total body volume, body density, arm volume, height, weight and a battery of 15 measurements of arm comprising different lengths, girths, diameters and skinfolds of 200 Punjabi girls aged 10–19 years are presented. Relationship between arm volume and total body volume in different age groups are also studied. Highly significant and positive correlations existed between arm volume and total body volume and the values of correlation coefficients r ranged between 0.78 to 0.92 in different age groups. Body volume was estimated also from arm measurements by using selective stepwise multiple linear regression analysis for each age group. Highly significant multiple correlation coefficients R were obtained for predicting total body volume from arm measurements and the values of multiple R ranged between 0.92 to 0.97 in different age groups even with a combination of just three or four arm measurements. The most commonly selected measurements up to fourth step in most of the age groups were upper arm girth and maximum forearm girth.     

Structural allometry of the femur and tibia in Hominoidea and Macaca

Allometric scaling relationships between body weight, bone length, and cross-sectional dimensions of the lower limb bones which measure structural strength and rigidity (area, second moments of area) are investigated in Homo, Gorilla, Pan, Pongo, and Macaca. Cross-sectional dimensions are slightly positively allometric and highly correlated with body weight; within-bone proportional differences are largely a result of differences in relative bone length to body weight. Orangutans show the greatest deviation from general scaling relationships between lower limb bone structural strength and weight, probably due to habitual upper limb suspension. Formulas for the prediction of weight from cross-sectional dimensions are presented.     

Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain)

Systematic excavations at the site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) have allowed us to reconstruct 27 complete long bones of the human species Homo heidelbergensis. The SH sample is used here, together with a sample of 39 complete Homo neanderthalensis long bones and 17 complete early Homo sapiens (Skhul/Qafzeh) long bones, to compare the stature of these three different human species. Stature is estimated for each bone using race- and sex-independent regression formulae, yielding an average stature for each bone within each taxon. The mean length of each long bone from SH is significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the corresponding mean values in the Neandertal sample. The stature has been calculated for male and female specimens separately, averaging both means to calculate a general mean. This general mean stature for the entire sample of long bones is 163.6 cm for the SH hominins, 160.6 cm for Neandertals and 177.4 cm for early modern humans. Despite some overlap in the ranges of variation, all mean values in the SH sample (whether considering isolated bones, the upper or lower limb, males or females or more complete individuals) are larger than those of Neandertals. Given the strong relationship between long bone length and stature, we conclude that SH hominins represent a slightly taller population or species than the Neandertals. However, compared with living European Mediterranean populations, neither the Sima de los Huesos hominins nor the Neandertals should be considered ‘short’ people. In fact, the average stature within the genus Homo seems to have changed little over the course of the last two million years, since the appearance of Homo ergaster in East Africa. It is only with the emergence of H. sapiens, whose earliest representatives were ‘very tall’, that a significant increase in stature can be documented.     

Determination of adult stature from metatarsal length

The results of a study to determine the value of foot bones in reconstructing stature are presented. The data consist of length measurements taken on all ten metatarsals as well as on cadaver length from a sample of 130 adults of documented race, sex, stature, and, in most cases, age. Significant correlation coefficients (.58-.89) are shown between known stature and foot bone lengths. Simple and multiple regression equations computed from the length of each of these bones result in standard errors of estimated stature ranging from 40-76 mm. These errors are larger than those for stature calculated from complete long bones, but are approximately the same magnitude for stature calculated from metacarpals and fragmentary long bones. Given that metatarsals are more likely to be preserved unbroken than are long bones and given the ease with which they are accurately measured, the formulae presented here should prove useful in the study of historic and even prehistoric populations.     

Prediction of body weight of fossil Artiodactyla

Many dimensions of the postcranial skeleton of ruminant artiodactyls scale closely with body weight and are therefore potentially useful as predictors of body weight in fossil species. Using 45 dimensions of the skeleton a series of predictive equations was generated based on the scaling relationships of the family Bovidae. As a test of their usefulness these equations were used to predict body weights of a number of living ruminant artiodactyls, and six genera of fossil artiodactyls. For most species body weight estimates within 25° of actual weight were given by the mean of the predicted weights from all measurements except lengths of long bones. While femur length was a reasonable predictor of body weight, lengths of distal long bones were unreliable and should not be used as indicators of relative or absolute body weights. Some non-length measurements are biased in certain taxonomic groups; the possibility of erroneous estimates from such measurements can be reduced by using as many estimators of body weight as are available. No species of artiodactyl tested is so highly modified in all dimensions that all results were erroneous. Subsets of measurements which might be available from a typical fossil fragment also gave reliable results.     

Allometry of cetacean forelimb bones

This study examines the allometric scaling relationships of the cetacean humerus, radius, and ulna. Bone lengths and diameters were measured for 20 species of odontocete and three species of mysticete cetaceans, representing eight of the nine extant cetacean families. The scaling of individual bone proportions (bone length vs. cranio-caudal diameter, bone length vs. dorso-ventral diameter), and of individual bone dimensions against estimated body mass, are compared to models of geometric and elastic similarity. The geometric similarity model describes the scaling relationship of bone length vs. cranio-caudal diameter and body mass vs. cranio-caudal diameter for the humerus only; geometric similarity also describes the scaling relationship of body mass vs. bone length for all three bones. None of the scaling relationships fits the elastic similarity model. The scaling relationships of bone length vs. dorso-ventral diameter for all three bones, and bone length vs. cranio-caudal diameter for the radius and ulna, exhibit negative allometry, indicating that large bones are less robust than small bones. Negative allometry of structural support elements has not been previously described for terrestrial mammals or plants. The high relative swimming speeds of small delphinids may generate sufficient stresses to require more robust bones relative to those of larger whales. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

大连学生体质发育的研究

为了解大连地区城乡学生生长发育状况及其规律,采用人体测量学方法,调查测量了大连地区7—18岁3834（城市男630,城市女645,乡村男1285,乡村女1274）名汉族学生23项形态指标,并利用以往资料,研讨了大连学生主要形态指标的生长发育规律、生长发育趋势、性差和地区差别。结果表明：1生长发育特点：大连学生测量项目的均值随年龄的增长而增加,生长曲线呈上升趋势并且男女有交叉现象。2性差：大连学生各测量项目均有明显的性差,除女生青春期（10—12岁）外,在其他年龄组均为男生大于女生。3生长的长期变化：大连7—17岁男女学生26年来身高、体重、胸围有较大幅度的增长,其每10年平均增长值分别为2.52cm和1.92cm、4.05kg和2.39kg、1.77cm和1.38cm。4城乡差：大连男女学生身高、体重、胸围仍存在城乡差别。     

Secular trend in tooth size in urban Chinese assessed from two-generation family data

Environmental improvements can lead to greater size of skeletodental structures as the population comes closer to expressing its genetic growth potential. Such secular trends have been documented in many human settings, especially for increased stature and faster tempos of growth. The present study is based on 185 same-sex parent-offspring pairs of data for maximum buccolingual crown diameters of the permanent teeth from a cohort in Beijing, China, where parents experienced much of their development during and after World War II with the deprivations of the changing regime. Their offspring enjoyed the relative stability of the established Communist system, where nutrition and stability were much improved. There were significant increases in buccolingual diameters of the premolars and molars in the offspring. Increase for premolars and molars was about 1%, but larger in females than males (1.6% vs. 0.5%). Opposite changes occurred in the incisors and canines (i.e., larger parental dimensions), but we contend that these are an age-related artifact brought on by greater passive eruption of older individuals' teeth that exposes a broader portion of the crown at the gingival margin. The secular trend in crown size coincides with other research in contemporary China, disclosing increases in body size and faster tempos of growth as health and nutrition continue to improve.