Secular Change in Body Height Among in Ankara Schoolchildren Since 1930’s to Up-to-Date and Relation with Socioeconomic Status

Abstract

Growth and development process provide important information about individual and public health. Height, on the other hand, is a variable that lies at the center of many disciplines, such as public health, anthropology and economics. Research demonstrates that changing socio-economic conditions can have positive or negative impacts on the physique of a person. This study aims to examine secular changes in height by assessing research carried out in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, and research concerning children aged 6-17 years who lived in Ankara between 1950 and 2017. To that end, a literature survey was conducted to compile the results of previous human growth studies, and the data of three field studies, carried out cross-sectionally in 1950 (1020 boys, 970 girls), 2005 (709 girls, 718 boys) and 2017 (761 boys, 724 girls), were analyzed using new methods. Both positive and negative trends were observed in the secular change in height in school children who lived in Ankara during the past 80 years. In the 1950s, the fluctuation in the height of boys was more pronounced while there have been negative secular changes in both genders. The sensitivity of boys to adverse environmental conditions is associated with a deceleration in growth rate. As a result, it can be said that, sexual dimorphism, which defines the differences in body size and shape between sexes, is more striking, more so in the 2017 study than the 1950 study.

Keywords

• secular change
• anthropometrics
• body height
• schoolchildren