SOCIOECONOMIC AND GENETIC FACTORS INFLUENCING THE STRENGTH, WEIGHT, LENGTH AND WIDTH MEASUREMENTS OF CHILDREN (original) (raw)
2010, Folia Medica Indonesiana Vol 43(3)
Abstract
Child growth has been the interest of scientists for a long time. Most children in Africa and Asia still live in conditions that are not considered "optimal" by comparison with those prevailing in Europe and North America. There are, however, socioeconomic status (S ES) improvements on those continents that create, in circumscribed populations, living conditions on a par with those of the "first world". The Javanese sample came from good socioeconomic status (SES) children in Malang (East Java). A total of 1913 Javane se children (822 boys and 1091 girls) were measured. The samples from South Africa were from high (urban) and low (rural) SES. As many as 1109 children (274 rural females, 297 urban females, 263 rural males, and 275 urban males) were measured. Analysis of variance was used to find significant differences, and probit analysis was used to calculate the age of menarche (12.15 years, s=1.10). The results showed that Javanese girls had significantly younger age of menarche. Socioeconomic and genetic factors both affect the growth and development of children, but differently, depended on the variables, the sex, and the age of the growing children. Grip strength development was affected by socioeconomic factor in male children. However, during later period of growt h and development, the low socioeconomic children showed an indicator of catch up growth. On the other hand, female Cape Coloured children did not show significant differences between urban and rural, in the averages of grip strength. Males seem to be more affected by adverse environment. Although SES seemed to affect the averages of elbow breadth, the rural children of both sexes managed to catch -up at the last period of their growth and development. The differences between Javanese and Cape Coloured child ren were an example of the adaptation to specific environment, manifested in the different regulation in attaining adult height. This may be a result of the population history of Cape Coloured people who received substantial admixtures from European gene p ool, while Javanese are descendants of people who for a very large number of generations resided in South East Asian environmental conditions. Thus the small final body size of Javanese people, determined by early puberty, is an adaptation to the life in climate that being warm and humid, it would be better to have low body mass/body surface ratio for efficient passive radiation of heat.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.
References (14)
- Abolfotouh MA, Abu-Zeid HA, Badawi IA, & Mahfouz AA, 1993. A method for adjusting the international growth curves for local use in the assessment of nutritional status of Saudi pre -school children. J Egypt Public Health Assoc 68:687 -702.
- Artaria MD and Henneberg M, in print. Schoolchildren who do not reach WHO reference despite good socioeconomic status: A mixed -longitudinal study of body height and weight of Javanese and Cape-Coloured Schoolchildren. Bulletin SGA.
- Artaria MD, 2009. Peran Faktor Sosial -Ekonomi dan Gizi pada Tumbuh Kembang Anak. Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik 22(1): 51 -60.
- Bogin B, 1999. Patterns of Human Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- de Onis M, Garza C, and Habicht JP, 1997. Time for a new growth reference. Pediatrics 100:E8.
- de Onis M, Onyango AW, Borghi E, Siyam A, Nishida C, Siekmann J, 2007. Development of a WHO growth reference for school -aged children and adolescents, Bulletin of the WHO 85:660 - 667. Henneberg M, and Louw GJ, 1998. Cross -sectional survey of growth of urban and rural "Cape Coloured" schoolchildren: Anthropometry and function tests. American Journal of Human Biology 10:73-85.
- Henneberg M, Brush G, and Harrison GA, 2001. Growth of specific muscle strength between 6 and 18 years in contrasting socioec onomic conditions. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 115:62-70.
- Henneberg M, Harrison GA, and Brush G, 1998. The small child: Anthropometric and physical performance characteristics of short -for-age children growing in good and in poor socio -economic conditions. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. April 52:286 -291.
- Johnston FE, Wainer H, Thissen D, and MacVean R, 1976. Hereditary and environmental determinants of growth in height in a longitudinal sample of children and youth of Guatemalan and European ancestry. Am J Phys Anthropol 44:469 -75.
- Liang SF, and Dai WZ, 1989. A growth velocity standard for Chinese children in Hong Kong. Chin Med J Engl 102:233-5.
- Martin R, and Saller K, 1957. Lehrbuch der Anthropologie. Stuttgart: G. Fisher Verlag.
- Nath S, 1980. A study of progression of segmental growth and maturational direction among tribal boys of India. Anthropologie 84:292 -299.
- Silventoinen K, Haukka J, Dunkel L, Tynelius P, Rasmussen F, 2008. Genetics of Pubertal Timing and Its Associations With Relative Weight in Childhood and Adult Height: The Swedish Young Male Twins Study.Pediatrics 121: 885 -891.
- Zellner K, Kromeyer K, and Jaeger U, 1996. Growth studies in Jena, Germany: Historical background and secular changes in stature and weight in childr en 7-14 years. American Journal of Human Biology 8:371-382.