Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-31T16:47:40.471Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

LEVEL OF SOMATIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AGED SIX YEARS FROM AN URBAN AGGLOMERATION IN POLAND WITH RESPECT TO SELECTED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2014

DOROTA TRZCIŃSKA*
Affiliation:
Josef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland
PIOTR TABOR
Affiliation:
Josef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland
ELŻBIETA OLSZEWSKA
Affiliation:
Josef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland
*
1Corresponding author. Email: dorota.trzcinska@awf.edu.pl

Summary

The aim of this study was to assess the somatic development of children from an urban agglomeration in Poland at the end of preschool education and the beginning of primary education with respect to selected socioeconomic and educational conditions. Data were collected for 742 children from selected Warsaw kindergartens in spring 2011 and 2012. Their mean age was 5.84±0.31 years. The sex categories were equal: 371 boys and 371 girls. Kindergartens chosen for the study constituted a representative sample. The diagnostic survey method (questionnaire technique) was used to assess the selected environmental conditions of development in the participating children. Body height and the sum of six skin folds (over the biceps, over the triceps, under the scapula, on the abdomen, over the wing of ilium and on the calf) were chosen from the assessed anthropometric parameters for the purpose of determining somatic development of study participants. The obtained data were analysed using selected descriptive statistics methods (including cluster analysis), data standardization (normalization by mean values and SD) and the chi-squared test. The results showed certain relationships between the selected parameters of somatic development and family living conditions. These relationships involved differences between individual clusters depending on given living conditions and were most prominent for mother's education, for which variable differences between clusters were found for both sexes. The somatic build of boys (including body height and body adiposity) also differed depending on the number of offspring in the family, while the somatic build of girls differed depending on father's employment and father's education. Furthermore, the obtained results lead to the conclusion that the total number of differences between the analysed clusters was relatively low. This indicates that the biological effects of social stratification tend to diminish in the environment of an urban agglomeration.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bielicki, T. & Szklarska, A. (1999) Secular trends in stature in Poland, national and social-class specific. Annals of Human Biology 26, 251258.Google Scholar
Bielicki, T., Szklarska, A., Welon, Z. & Brajczewski, C. (1997) Nierówności społeczne w Polsce. Antropologiczne badania poborowych w trzydziestoleciu 1965–1995. Monografie Zakładu Antropologii. PAN, Wrocław.Google Scholar
Brundtland, G. H., Liestol, K. & Walloe, L. (1980) Height, weight and menarcheal age of Oslo schoolchildren during the last 60 years. Annals of Human Biology 7, 307322.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cernerud, L. (1992) Difference in height between socially more and less privileged 10 years Old Stockholm children born in 1963–93. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine 20, 510.Google Scholar
Cernerud, L. (1994) Are there still inequalities in height and body mass index of Stockholm children? Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine 22, 161165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charzewski, J. (1981) Społeczne uwarunkowania rozwoju fizycznego dzieci warszawskich. Studia i Monografie. AWF, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Chinn, S., Rona, R. J. & Price, C. E. (1989) The secular trend in height of primary school children in England and Scotland 1972–79 and 1979–86. Annals of Human Biology 16(5), 387395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, T. J. (2003) The secular trend in human physical growth: a biological view. Economics and Human Biology 1, 161168.Google Scholar
Dencikowska, A. & Dencikowska, B. (2009) Social determinants of physical development status in boys. In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 101118.Google Scholar
Garcia, J. & Quintana-Domeque, C. (2007) The evolution of adult height in Europe: a brief note. Economics and Human Biology 5, 340349.Google Scholar
Godina, E. Z. (2011) Secular trends in Russian populations: past, present and future. In Tatarczuk, J. (ed.) Conditions for Biological and Motor Development in Various Periods of Ontogenesis. Uniwersytet Zielonogórski, Zielona Góra, pp. 6980.Google Scholar
Hiermeyer, M. (2009) Height and BMI values of German conscripts in 2000, 2001 and 1906. Economics and Human Biology 7, 366375.Google Scholar
Kołodziej, H. & Kozieł, S. (2002) Recent trends in stature of 14-year-old boys from Wrocław, Poland. Anthropological Review 65, 5763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kosińska, M. & Kaliszewska-Drozdowska, M. D. (1999) Urbanization factor as a modifier of phenotypic development. Anthropological Review 62, 4147.Google Scholar
Kozieł, S., Welon, Z., Bielicki, T., Szklarska, A. & Ulijaszek, S. (2004) The effect of the economic transition on the Body Mass Index of conscripts in Poland. Economic and Human Biology 2, 97106.Google Scholar
Lipowicz, A. (1999) Fatness of children and adolescents from various socio-economic groups between 1978 and 1988. Anthropological Review 62, 3540.Google Scholar
Łaska-Mierzejewska, T. (1999) Body height and mass of girls from rural communities in Krosno region as affected by political and economical changes in Poland in the period 1977–1997. Anthropological Review 62, 316.Google Scholar
Łaska-Mierzejewska, T. & Olszewska, E. (2003) Antropologiczna ocena zmian rozwarstwienia społecznego populacji wiejskiej w Polsce, w okresie 1967–2001. Badania dziewcząt. Studia i Monografie, Vol. 95. AWF, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Łaska-Mierzejewska, T. & Olszewska, E. (2006) Changes in the biological status of Polish girls from a rural region, associated with economic and political processes in the period 1967–2001. Journal of Biosocial Science 38(2), 187202.Google Scholar
Markowska, M. & Przychodni, A. (2009) Environmental differentiation in the physical development of 6-year-old children from the area of the Lubelskie Province. In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 7788.Google Scholar
Negasheva, M. A. (2011) Secular trend of somatic development in Moscow population for the previous 80 years. In Tatarczuk, J. (ed.) Conditions for Biological and Motor Development in Various Periods of Ontogenesis. Uniwersytet Zielonogórrski, Zielona Góra, pp. 107117.Google Scholar
Nowicki, G. (2000) Secular changes of height and body mass of children and youth in the Bydgoszcz region. Anthropological Review 63, 119125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Popławska, H. & Dmitruk, A. (2009) Secular trends in somatic traits of girls and boys (a review article). In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 5164.Google Scholar
Przewęda, R. & Dobosz, J. (2003) Growth and physical fitness of Polish youth. Studia i Monografie, Vol. 103. AWF, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Silventoinen, K. (2003) Determinants of variation in adult body height. Journal of Biosocial Science 35, 263285.Google Scholar
Silventoinen, K., Lahelma, E., Lundberg, O. & Rahkonen, O. (2001) Body height, birth cohort and social background in Finland and Sweden. European Journal of Public Health 11, 124129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanisz, A. (2007) Przystępny kurs statystyki z zastosowaniem STATISTICA PL na przykładach z medycyny. Analizy wielowymiarowe (t.3). StatSoft, Kraków.Google Scholar
Steckel, R. H. (2009) Heights and human welfare: recent developments and new directions. Explorations in Economic History 46, 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stupnicki, R. (2011) Analiza i interpretacja danych ankietowych. MARGOS, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Trzcińska, D. & Olszewska, E. (2007) Physical status of children entering school. Physical Education and Sport 51, 4449. URL: http://versita.com/science/healthsciences/pes.Google Scholar
Trzcińska, D., Olszewska, E. & Tabor, P. (2009) Physical status of rural children entering school. In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 6576.Google Scholar
Trzcińska, D., Tabor, P. & Olszewska, E. (2012) Analysis of selected anthropometric parameters of 6-year-old children in Warsaw compared to the peer population in the years 1996–1999. Pediatric Endocrynology, Diabetes and Metabolism 18(3), 107111.Google Scholar
Wilczewski, A., Popławska, H. & Dmitruk, A. (2009) Physical development of girls and boys from eastern provinces of Poland. In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 2950.Google Scholar
Wolański, N. (2005) Rozwój biologiczny człowieka. PWN, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Zaworski, B. (2009) Secular trends in body height in rural children and youth from the central part of Kaszuby region in the years 1978–2006. In Popławska, H. (ed.) Somatic Development, Physical Fitness and Health Status of Rural Children and Adolescents. Joseph Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Faculty of Physical Education in Biała Podlaska, Biała Podlaska, pp. 119128.Google Scholar