Are New Generations Getting Bigger in Size? Anthropometric Measurements in Erzurum

Abstract

Objective:

When the dimensional measurements of the students who spend most of their time at school are taken into consideration, inappropriate dimensions of school equipment may affect their body and psychological improvements negatively. Anthropometric measurements are necessary for designing the educational equipment of the children at school. It is emphasized that anthropometric measurements of the people living in different climate and altitude conditions will be different. It is mentioned that anthropometric data available for a certain region will be able to change as a result of changing socio-economical conditions and therefore, anthropometric data update is necessary at certain periods.

Materials and Methods:

In 2000 anthropometric data obtained from the children between the age of seven and fifteen, who were in sitting and standing positions, were measured with a repeated measurement in the same schools in 2007.

Results:

Mean values of the heights of elbow at standing position of the female students, 8 years old, increased from 72.38 cm in 2000 to 74.67 cm in 2007 (p<0.001). Most of the other measurements in 2007 were larger than those in 2000, giving the impression that new generation children are getting larger in size.

Conclusion:

As reported in the literature, anthropometric data should be updated at certain period of times.

Introduction

Anthropometric measurements are essential in the correct designs of ergonomic business areas. Obtaining the anthropometric data is very significant in terms of growing and shaping of the body posture regularly in the children who spend most of their time sitting in the desks and on the chairs [1–3]. The fact that the chairs and desks were designed appropriately and in a functional way according to the physical structure of the user made the design of the equipment for school significant. Therefore, it is necessary that different changes and relations among body dimensions should be known [4, 5].

First of all, Ergonomist’s duty is to determine the features of the product to be used in the design of the equipment produced with mass production and then is to provide the usage of the objects including fixed things, which will be benefited in the design by anthropometry [6, 7]. Since, it is necessary to obtain anthropometric measurements for the design of certain products. It is emphasized that anthropometric data of the people living in different altitude and climate conditions will be different [8]. Also, it is mentioned that anthropometric data obtained for a certain region will change in time as a result of changing socio-economical conditions. Therefore, anthropometric measurements of the studies should be updated at every five years beforehand. The aim of this study is to evaluate some of the anthropometric measurements among the adolescents in Erzurum and check if there is any change over time.

Materials and Methods

In this study, in 2000 in Erzurum province, (which has a medium altitude of 2000 meters), 1408 students, and in 2007, 1477 students from the same population were included in the research by stratified sampling method [9–11]. These children were evaluated with regard to four different anthropometric measurements in both studying periods. These anthropometric measurements included the height of the eye and elbow at standing position, the width of the shoulder and leg, and knee distance. All students included in the study were examined in terms of general health control by a paediatrician. Children with any chronic and systemic cases, which would affect anthropometric measurements, were not included in the study. Students whose families have monthly incomes above the minimum living conditions according to State Statistics Institute’s economical indications were included in the study in both periods (2000 and 2007 years). Participant flow is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Study data flow.

In this study, anthropometric measurements were obtained by using the Phesant measurements method (Table 1). Measurements from 2000 and 2007 were compared as Yip and their colleagues suggested [12].

Table 1.

List of anthropometric variables and methods of the measurement

Variable	Corresponding measurement in Pheasant (1988)	Method of the measurement
Eye height	2	Vertical distance from the floor to the inner canthus (corner) of the eye.
Elbow height	4	Vertical distance from the floor to the radial
Shoulder breadth	18	Horizontal distance across the shoulders measured between the acromia (bony points)
Buttock-knee length	13	Horizontal distance from the back of the uncompressed buttock to the front of the kneecap

Harpenden Anthropometer device was used for the measurements. The anthropometer was calibrated with the accuracy of 0.05 cm. During the measurements, children were barefooted and lightly clothed. All the measurements were taken between 8 and 12 o’clock in the morning to prevent day variability [11, 13].

Students included in the study were divided into groups in terms of age and sex in both periods. Written informed consent was obtained from all parents. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of Ataturk University (18/03/2011#3).

Statistical analysis

The Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20.0 program was used for statistical analysis (SPSS, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive statistics were presented as mean±SD or n (%)where applicable. Data obtained were evaluated statistically using the t test. Normality of the numerical data was checked visually using histogram graphs with normal curve.

Results

Male/female sex distribution of participants was 1106/842 (56.8%/43.2%) vs. 773/888 (46.5%/53.5%) for 2000 and 2007, respectively. Mean age (±SD) of the participants was 11.4±3.2 (Min. 6-Max. 17) and 10.8±2.4 (Min. 6-Max. 17) for 2000 and 2007, respectively.

According to age and sex, description and the statistical analyses of anthropometric measurements belonging to female and male students in 2000 and 2007 are shown in Figure 2, Table 1, and Table 2. It was determined that anthropometric measurements of the cases evaluated in 2000 and 2007 were increased according to age and sex. Anthropometric measurements obtained in both periods were compared according to age and sex. It was found that there was a significant difference among the heights of the elbow values at standing position of male students, 8 years old, in 2000 and 2007 (t=−4.29, p<0.001). While anthropometric measurements of the heights of elbow at standing position of the female students, 8 years old, was 72.38±4.26 cm in (Table 3) in 2000, it was found to be 74.67±3.02 cm in 2007. The difference of these two values was quite significant (t=−3.97, p<0.001). In both periods, the comparison of anthropometric measurements obtained from the same age group is shown in (Tables 2 and 3).

Figure 2.

Comparison of the anthropometric measurements as to sex and study year

Table 2.

The comparison of the anthropometric measurements of boys in 2000 and 2007

Anthropometric measurements	Age	n	Year 2000 Mean±SD	n	Year 2007 Mean±SD	t
Eye height	7	71	108.43±4.57	74	109.35±4.43	−1.23
	8	73	112.52±6.16	80	114.82±4.11	−2.75	**
	9	81	118.02±5.55	83	120.63±5.85	−2.93	**
	10	76	122.80±5.45	82	123.58±5.29	−0.91
	11	78	129.87±5.07	82	129.76±5.55	0.12
	12	80	134.84±3.63	85	135.75±5.13	−1.23
	13	81	139.58±4.03	82	140.20±5.10	−0.82
	14	76	141.98±4.65	81	144.87±6.31	−3.24	**
	15	78	145.01±5.07	83	145.42±5.20	−0.49
Elbow height	7	71	69.08±3.67	74	71.66±3.73	−4.24	***
	8	73	72.38±4.55	80	74.99±2.89	−4.29	***
	9	81	76.24±3.97	83	79.33±4.22	−4.82	***
	10	76	80.13±3.97	82	81.54±3.93	−2.25	*
	11	78	84.65±3.85	82	85.72±3.88	−1.74
	12	80	88.73±4.36	85	89.31±3.42	0.94
	13	81	90.18±3.42	82	92.98±4.24	−3.92	***
	14	76	92.39±3.75	81	96.56±4.33	−6.44	***
	15	78	94.29±3.73	83	94.57±3.86	−0.45
Shoulder breadth	7	71	26.88±1.12	74	28.38±2.95	−4.02	***
	8	73	27.62±1.40	80	29.18±1.40	−6.71	***
	9	81	28.91±1.51	83	30.43±2.24	−5.08	***
	10	76	29.82±1.69	82	30.98±1.80	−4.12	***
	11	78	31.26±1.51	82	32.47±1.77	−4.62	***
	12	80	32.73±1.67	85	33.51±1.53	−3.12	**
	13	81	33.23±1.24	82	34.51±1.72	−5.27	***
	14	76	34.52±1.43	81	35.80±2.67	−3.70	***
	15	78	35.39±1.54	83	35.50±1.67	−0.42
Buttock-knee length	7	71	38.97±2.16	74	39.26±1.90	−0.85
	8	73	40.74±2.49	80	41.31±2.08	−1.55
	9	81	42.93±2.73	83	43.80±2.73	−2.04	*
	10	76	44.76±2.88	82	44.87±2.61	−0.26
	11	78	47.71±2.60	82	47.31±2.74	0.95
	12	80	50.32±2.53	85	49.37±2.12	2.62	**
	13	81	51.33±2.17	82	51.29±2.24	0.13
	14	76	52.64±2.79	81	51.29±2.79	0.83
	15	78	53.57±2.85	83	53.70±2.98	−0.27

^*:significant at p<0.05,

^**:significant at p<0.01,

^***:significant at p<0.001, SD: Standard Deviation

Table 3.

The comparison of the anthropometric age measurements of girls in 2000 and 2007

Anthropometric measurements	Age	n	Year 2000 Mean±SD	n	Year 2007 Mean±SD	t
Eye height	7	80	108.66±4.42	78	108.37±4.56	0.39
	8	78	112.59±5.91	85	113.75±4.07	−1.47
	9	82	118.31±5.75	86	119.10±6.60	0.82
	10	85	122.45±5.82	76	124.23±6.05	−1.91
	11	77	128.48±5.22	85	129.63±4.99	−1.43
	12	85	132.11±5.18	87	133.58±5.23	−1.69
	13	81	139.84±6.71	83	141.85±5.37	−1.19
	14	78	144.74±6.84	86	144.54±4.64	0.20
	15	68	150.21±7.75	79	151.58±8.09	−0.94
Elbow height	7	80	69.17±3.25	78	71.35±3.26	−4.20	***
	8	78	72.38±4.26	85	74.67±3.02	−3.97	***
	9	82	76.45±4.02	86	78.76±5.62	−3.05	**
	10	85	79.57±4.34	76	82.29±4.41	−3.98	***
	11	77	84.15±3.93	85	85.59±4.14	−5.22	***
	12	85	86.40±4.28	87	88.40±3.81	−2.95	**
	13	81	91.53±5.25	83	93.99±3.88	−2.35	*
	14	78	94.32±5.04	86	96.39±3.70	−2.73	**
	15	68	98.17±5.32	79	98.54±5.64	−0.60
Shoulder breadth	7	80	27.30± 1.35	78	27.97±1.36	−3.11	**
	8	78	28.19±1.39	85	28.78±1.29	−2.79	**
	9	82	29.24±1.57	86	29.88±1.93	−2.33	*
	10	85	30.17±1.66	76	30.92±1.85	−2.75	**
	11	77	31.11±1.49	85	32.33±1.70	−4.79	***
	12	85	32.00±1.61	87	32.96±1.47	−3.73	***
	13	81	33.92±1.96	83	34.91±1.97	−3.22	**
	14	78	34.96±2.14	86	35.63±1.53	−2.11	*
	15	68	36.61±2.41	79	36.72±2.31	−0.17
Buttock-knee length	7	80	38.77±1.96	78	39.51±2.34	2.16	*
	8	78	40.05±2.61	85	41.48±1.90	−4.02	***
	9	82	42.29±2.75	86	43.69±2.71	−3.31	**
	10	85	44.32±2.61	76	45.44±2.70	−2.72	**
	11	77	46.44±2.43	85	47.60±2.63	−2.92	**
	12	85	48.24±2.29	87	49.06±2.32	−1.99	*
	13	81	51.19±2.95	83	51.74±3.23	−1.12
	14	78	52.80±2.26	86	53.14±2.41	−0.84
	15	68	54.83±2.78	79	54.59±2.69	−0.49

^*significant at p<0.05,

^**significant at p<0.01,

^***significant at p<0.001, SD: Standard Deviation

Shoulder breath was larger in boys compared to girls both in 2000 and 2007 data (t=4.06; p<0.001 and t=2.36; p=0.018, respectively). Also elbow height and eye height were larger for the boys in the 2000 data (t=3.15; p<0.002 and t=2.69; p=0.007, respectively).

Discussion

It is always obvious that the data bank update is necessary in terms of checking and following the students’ growth and development in a healthy way by determining the dimensions of desks and tables used by the students who spend most of their daily life at school. Although there are discussions about at what intervals should the anthropometric measurements be updated, the results of our study reflect the difference of 8-year anthropometric measurements. Yip et al. [8] emphasize that anthropometric measurements should be updated at every 5 years.

According to the result of our study, it was determined that there was a significant difference in the comparison of anthropometric measurements of the same age and sex. Although it was considered that changing climate conditions, developments in the socio and economical conditions and health services, increase in the percentage of individual education level and changing feeding habits caused anthropometric measurements to increase, the result of our study showed that this period was necessary for updating the anthropometric measurements.

However, in spite of the fact that statistical difference was not found the among anthropometric measurements dealing with the height of the eye and the distance between the leg and knee at standing position from the point of all age groups, on the other hand, it was determined that statistical difference was found in terms of the age and the sex in both periods with regard to the height of the elbow and width of shoulder parameters at standing position.

As a result, the results of our study suggest that anthropometric measurement values during the childhood should be updated at every ten years.