<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Changes in human growth and development depend on genetic and environmental factors. In the case of Slovenia, the environmental factors changed as a result of the period of socio-economic transition that the country underwent between 1991 and 2013. The authors used anthropometric techniques to evaluate differences in body height, proportions and sexual maturity in 1,221 adolescents aged 14 in 1993, 2003 and 2013.</p></sec><sec><h3>Methods</h3><p>Data was collected as a part of the ACDSi study, which has monitored children’s somatic growth and motor development every decade over the last 40 years.</p></sec><sec><h3>Results</h3><p>Between 1993 and 2013, a trend (p=0.08) towards increased body height was observed in males. The comparison of age at peak height velocity (PHV) between generations demonstrated a trend (p=0.07) of earlier entry into puberty in adolescents in 2013 compared to those in 1993. The leg-to-body height ratio increased (p&lt;0.05) with every decade in males, while in females it decreased (p&lt;0.05) in 2013. Similar trends were observed in the leg-to-trunk ratio. Contemporary generations experienced PHV at a younger age (p&lt;0.05), which is true for both genders even in adolescents born no more than two decades (1993 (2013) apart. In both generations, females experienced PHV sooner than their male peers.</p></sec><sec><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The authors assume that females of the 2013 generation reached puberty earlier than females of older generations. It is most likely that, unlike females from older generations and unlike males, they were already at the stage of trunk growth at the time of the measurements, which explains the observed changes in their trunk length, leg-to-body height and leg-to-trunk ratios in comparison to earlier generations.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionChanges in human growth and development depend on genetic and environmental factors. In the case of Slovenia, the environmental factors changed as a result of the period of socio-economic transition that the country underwent between 1991 and 2013. The authors used anthropometric techniques to evaluate differences in body height, proportions and sexual maturity in 1,221 adolescents aged 14 in 1993, 2003 and 2013.MethodsData was collected as a part of the ACDSi study, which has monitored children’s somatic growth and motor development every decade over the last 40 years.ResultsBetween 1993 and 2013, a trend (p=0.08) towards increased body height was observed in males. The comparison of age at peak height velocity (PHV) between generations demonstrated a trend (p=0.07) of earlier entry into puberty in adolescents in 2013 compared to those in 1993. The leg-to-body height ratio increased (p<0.05) with every decade in males, while in females it decreased (p<0.05) in 2013. Similar trends were observed in the leg-to-trunk ratio. Contemporary generations experienced PHV at a younger age (p<0.05), which is true for both genders even in adolescents born no more than two decades (1993 (2013) apart. In both generations, females experienced PHV sooner than their male peers.ConclusionThe authors assume that females of the 2013 generation reached puberty earlier than females of older generations. It is most likely that, unlike females from older generations and unlike males, they were already at the stage of trunk growth at the time of the measurements, which explains the observed changes in their trunk length, leg-to-body height and leg-to-trunk ratios in comparison to earlier generations.

Changes in the Growth and Development of Adolescents in a Country in Socio-Economic Transition 1993–2013

Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Biology

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

SPREMEMBE V RASTI IN RAZVOJU MLADOSTNIKOV V DRŽAVI S SOCIO-EKONOMSKIM PREHODOM V OBDOBJU 1993–2013

IntroductionChanges in human growth and development depend on genetic and environmental factors. In the case of Slovenia, the environmental factors changed as...

Changes in the Growth and Development of Adolescents in a Country in Socio-Economic Transition 1993–2013

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Jun 25, 2020

Page range: 164 - 171

Received: Nov 19, 2019

Accepted: Jun 02, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2020-0021

Keywords
secular trends, growth spurt, body height, body proportions, leg length, leg-to-body height ratio, leg-to-trunk ratio

© 2020 Tatjana Robič Pikel et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Changes in the Growth and Development of Adolescents in a Country in Socio-Economic Transition 1993–2013

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Jun 25, 2020

Page range: 164 - 171

Received: Nov 19, 2019

Accepted: Jun 02, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2020-0021

Keywordssecular trends, growth spurt, body height, body proportions, leg length, leg-to-body height ratio, leg-to-trunk ratio

© 2020 Tatjana Robič Pikel et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
secular trends, growth spurt, body height, body proportions, leg length, leg-to-body height ratio, leg-to-trunk ratio