Biomaterial Database

Growth of upper- and lower-body segments in Patamona and Wapishana Amerindian children (cross-sectional data). 2001

A D Dangour

Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, UK. add22@cam.ac.uk

OBJECTIVE To describe the upper- and lower-body growth of two populations of lowland Amazonian Amerindian children. METHODS The stature and sitting height of a convenience sample of 659 Patamona and 543 Wapishana children of known ages between 0 and 16 years of age was collected using standard techniques. Subischial leg length was calculated as stature less sitting height. The raw data were compared with reference data of British children, and body segment z-score values were calculated. RESULTS The data suggest that Amerindian children were significantly shorter than their British contemporaries, and that considerable faltering in total stature occurred by the third year of life. However, there were contrasting patterns of faltering in the upper and lower body which may well reflect differences in the tempo of growth of body segments at different ages. The two study populations differed significantly in their total stature and this was shown to be due to significant differences in leg length but not in sitting height. CONCLUSIONS The adverse effects on childhood growth of poor environmental conditions are well known, and it is argued that the variation in body size found between the populations in this study were the results of marked differences in the quality of their living conditions. This paper provides baseline data on the growth of Amerindian populations that are currently facing unprecedented changes in their economic and environmental circumstances.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007199	Indians, South American	Members of indigenous South American populations with pre-colonial contact origins.	Amerinds, South American,Indigenous South Americans,American Amerind, South,American Indian, South,American, Indigenous South,Americans, Indigenous South,Amerind, South American,Indian, South American,Indigenous South American,South American Amerind,South American Amerinds,South American Indian,South American Indians,South American, Indigenous,South Americans, Indigenous
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D012044	Regression Analysis	Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.	Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D001827	Body Height	The distance from the sole to the crown of the head with body standing on a flat surface and fully extended.	Body Heights,Height, Body,Heights, Body
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D003430	Cross-Sectional Studies	Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.	Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D005260	Female		Females
D006128	Growth	Gradual increase in the number, the size, and the complexity of cells of an individual. Growth generally results in increase in ORGAN WEIGHT; BODY WEIGHT; and BODY HEIGHT.