Patterns of growth and development in urban and rural children of the northern part of European Russia

Abstract

Two th ousand children and adolescents of both sexes aged 7-17 were studied in 2009-2010 in Arkhangelsk and several villages of the Arkhangelsk Region. Results were compared with data, collected by the same authors in the same area in 1988-1989, on 1500 children of the same age. The program included some 50 metric and descriptive characteristics, estimates of biological age, and somatotyping. We collected data on parental education and occupation, number of children per family, etc. Lengths of body segments and extremities, body mass index (BMI), and certai n other indexes were calculated. Statistical analysis included standardization of data and one-way ANOVA. Urban children were shown to be slightly taller than their rural peers but did not differ from them in weight, chest circumference, or BMI. Modern children, both urban and rural, showed greater stature, weight, and chest circumference as compared to those measured in 1988. Signifi cant changes in body proportions were found in modern children: they had a longer torso, narrower shoulders, and a larger pelvic breadth. Also, a signifi cant increase in limb circumferences and subcutaneous fat was found. Modern urban and rural children were closer to each other in most physical characteristics than were their peers of the previous generation. The results can be interpreted in terms of the ongoing secular trend in population of the Arkhangelsk Region.