Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Different effects of living conditions on the variation in BMI and height in children before the onset of puberty

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 70, pages 662–666 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Biological indicators of children’s growth, such as the mean values for both height and weight, are often used as markers of change in living conditions. However, little is known about how the quality of life affects the variation in height and weight. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the variation in height and body mass index (BMI) in Polish children between 1966 and 2012. During this period, Poland underwent vast political and socioeconomic changes.

Subjects/Methods:

The study included 5597 boys and 5479 girls aged 7–8 years of age. Socioeconomic status (SES) was defined in three categories: high, medium and low.

Results:

Between 1966 and 2012, the mean values for height and BMI significantly increased in both sexes (P<0.001). The variation of these two parameters, however, showed a different pattern. Whereas the variation in Z-values for height remained unchanged in both sexes, the variation in BMI increased in boys (P<0.01) but not in girls. SES affected the variation in Z-BMI in 1978 in both sexes (P<0.001), whereas variation in Z-height between SES categories remained unchanged across all years of surveys in boys. Before the political transformation, significant regional differences were observed in the variances of Z-BMI (P<0.05) but not of Z-height. This pattern changed after the political transformation, when regional differences in variances of Z-BMI disappeared.

Conclusions:

It is concluded that the mean values and the variation of BMI are affected by a changing quality of life, whereas the variation in height is usually independent of living conditions.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Howe LD, Tilling K, Galobardes B, Smith GD, Gunnell D, Lawlor DA . Socioeconomic differences in childhood growth trajectories: at what age do height inequalities emerge? J Epidemiol Community Health 2012; 66: 143–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tanner JM . Growth as a mirror of the condition of society: secular trends and class distinctions. Pediatr Int 1987; 29: 96–103.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Steckel RH . Stature and the standard of living. J Econ Lit 1995; 33: 1903–1940.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Subramanian SV, Özaltin E, Finlay JE . Height of nations: a socioeconomic analysis of cohort differences and patterns among women in 54 low- to middle-income countries. PLoS One 2011; 6: e18962.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. James PT . Obesity: the worldwide epidemic. Clin Dermatol 2004; 22: 276–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cardoso HFV, Caninas M . Secular trends in social class differences of height, weight and BMI of boys from two schools in Lisbon, Portugal (1910–2000). Econ Hum Biol 2010; 8: 111–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cavelaars AEJM, Kunst AE, Geurts JJM, Crialesi R, Grötvedt L, Helmert U et al. Persistent variations in average height between countries and between socio-economic groups: an overview of 10 European countries. Ann Hum Biol 2000; 27: 407–421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Eveleth PB . Thoughts on secular trends in growth and development. In: Dasgupta P, Hauspie R (eds), Perspectives in Human Growth, Development and Maturation. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2001, pp 137–145.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Neuman M, Kawachi I, Gortmaker S, Subramanian SV . Urban-rural differences in BMI in low- and middle-income countries: the role of socioeconomic status. Am J Clin Nutr 2013; 97: 428–436.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Monteiro CA, Conde WL, Lu B, Popkin BM . Obesity and inequities in health in the developing world. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28: 1181–1186.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Kozieł S, Kołodziej H, Ulijaszek SJ . Parental education, body mass index and prevalence of obesity among 14-year-old boys between 1987 and 1997 in Wrocław, Poland. Eur J Epidemiol 2000; 16: 1163–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Grillenberger M, Neumann CG, Murphy SP, Bwibo NO, van't Veer P, Hautvast JGAJ et al. Food supplements have a positive impact on weight gain and the addition of animal source foods increases lean body mass of Kenyan schoolchildren. J Nutr 2003; 133: 3957S–3964S.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. StatSoft. STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 10, 2010 www.statsoft.com.

  14. Bertens MGBC, Ulijaszek SJ, Koziel S, Henneberg M . Late childhood and adolescence growth sensitivity to political transition: the case of South African Cape Coloured school children during and post-apartheid. Anthropol Rev 2012; 75: 19–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fredriks AM, van Buuren S, Burgmeijer RJF, Meulmeester JF, Beuker RJ, Brugman E et al. Continuing positive secular growth change in the Netherlands 1955-1997. Pediatr Res 2000; 47: 316–323.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Monteiro CA, Moura EC, Conde WL, Popkin BM . Socioeconomic status and obesity in adult populations of developing countries: a review. Bull World Health Organ 2004; 82: 940–946.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Cole TJ . Secular trends in growth. Proc Nutr Soc 2000; 59: 317–324.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Cole TJ . The secular trend in human physical growth: a biological view. Econ Hum Biol 2003; 1: 161–168.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Aßmann C, Hermanussen M . Modeling determinants of growth: evidence for a community-based target in height? Pediatr Res 2013; 74: 88–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Bogin B, Hermanussen M, Blum WF, Aßmann C . Sex, sport, IGF-1 and the community effect in height hypothesis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2015; 12: 4816–4832.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Gomula A, Nowak-Szczepanska N, Danel D, Koziel S . Overweight trends among Polish schoolchildren before and after the transition from communism to capitalism. Econ Hum Biol 2015; 19: 246–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Finucane MM, Stevens GA, Cowan MJ, Danaei G, Lin JK, Paciorek CJ et al. National, regional, and global trends in body-mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9·1 million participants. Lancet 2011; 377: 557–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Garcia J, Quintana-Domeque C . The evolution of adult height in Europe: a brief note. Econ Hum Biol 2007; 5: 340–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Ng M, Fleming T, Robinson M, Thomson B, Graetz N, Margono C et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet 2014; 384: 766–781.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Krzyżanowska M, Mascie-Taylor CGN . Geographical variation and migration analysis of height, weight and body mass index in a British cohort study. J Biosoc Sci 2011; 43: 733–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Shin H . Child health in Peru: importance of regional variation and community effects on children's height and weight. J Health Soc Behav 2007; 48: 418–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Panczak R, Zwahlen M, Woitek U, Rühli FJ, Staub K . Socioeconomic, temporal and regional variation in body mass index among 188,537 Swiss male conscripts born between 1986 and 1992. PLoS One 2014; 9: e96721.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wang Y, Beydoun MA . The obesity epidemic in the United States—gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Epidemiol Rev 2007; 29: 6–28.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hermanussen M, Alt C, Staub K, Aßmann C, Groth D . The impact of physical connectedness on body height in Swiss conscripts. Anthropol Anz 2014; 71: 313–327.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Gomula A, Koziel S . Post-migration adaptation and age at menarche in the second generation of migrants. Anthropol Anz 2015; 72: 245–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Michael Hermanussen for his ideas and valuable comments to this work. Special acknowledgements to all contributors and researchers who were involved in Polish Anthropological Surveys across all years. The 2012 Survey was funded by the National Science Centre in Poland (grant no N N303 804540). The funding organization had no influence on the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, as well as on the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polish Academy of Sciences, Unit of Anthropology in Wroclaw, Poland, , Wroclaw, Poland

    N Nowak-Szczepanska, A Gomula & S Koziel

  2. Universität Potsdam, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam, Germany

    M J Ipsen

Authors
  1. N Nowak-Szczepanska
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A Gomula
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M J Ipsen
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S Koziel
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N Nowak-Szczepanska.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nowak-Szczepanska, N., Gomula, A., Ipsen, M. et al. Different effects of living conditions on the variation in BMI and height in children before the onset of puberty. Eur J Clin Nutr 70, 662–666 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.30

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.30

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links