The Secular Trend of the Somatometric Parametersof City School Children From 1925 to 2010–2012

The aim of the research was to study the dynamics of the somatometric parameters of city school children aged 8-16 over the period from 1925 to 2010–2012. Over 2010–2012 we performed the anthropological examination (body length and body mass, chest circumference) of the city school children of Gomel aged 8-16 (1 329 boys and 1 490 girls). The data obtained by other researchers in 1925 and 1973 were used for the assessment of the dynamics over time. It has been found that city school children at the beginning of the 21st century were characterized by higher rates of development of the somatometric parameters in comparison with their peers of 1925 and 1973. Sex dimorphism during the process of acceleration was revealed in the increased body length and body mass in boys and asthenization (increased body length and decreased body mass) in girls. The parameters of chest circumference in the examined boys and girls at the beginning of the 21st century were considerably higher in comparison with their peers of 1925. The total growth rate of body length within the studied age range in the examined boys and girls was higher in comparison with the data as of 1925 and 1973, and the total growth rate of the parameters of body mass and chest circumference was higher in the examined boys and girls compared to their peers examined in 1925 and 2010–2012. The school children of the city of Gomel at the beginning of the 21st century revealed acceleration of development of somatometric parameters in comparison with their peers of 1925 and 1973.