The somatic development of rural boys and girls aged 6–19 from the Podkarpackie voivodeship against the urban series

Marta Nowak
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Abstract

Introduction: The study presents the development of chosen somatometric parameters and indices of the body proportions of rural boys and girls aged 6–19 from the Podkarpacie region in comparison with the urban series from Rzeszów.

Material and method: The anthropometric research was conducted on 1,887 rural boys and 1, 809 girls (3,5 % of the overall population) and Martin’s measurement technique was applied. In this study three metric characteristics were taken into consideration: the body height (B-v), the body mass and the chest circumference (xiphoidale (xi)). The values of the above mentioned parameters form the basis for the calculation of the indices: Marty’s, Rohrer’s and Livi’s. The obtained data were analysed statistically by means of the Microsoft Office Excel 2003 program.

Results: The development of the values of the body height, the body mass and the chest circumference is generally on a lower level when rural children and youth are considered, in comparison with the urban population. Statistically significant differences of the analysed parameters occurred in some age groups. The representatives of both sexes of the rural environment are characterised by a weaker body build (with the exception of 7- and 18-year-old boys), than the examined onesfrom Rzeszów. The rural boys aged 6–11 and 13 showed the gracilization trend of the body build, whereas among the boys at the ages of 12 and 15 and 17–18 the reverse tendency occurred in comparison with the urban population. The body proportions become equal at the ages of 14 and 16. In the sections of ontogenesis the rural girls aged 6–10 and 13–15 indicate a more gracile body build, while the girls aged 11, 16 and 17 show a more massive body build in comparison with the urban girls. Similar weight-height proportions were observed among the girls aged 12 and 18.

Conclusions: Pointed out differences, both in relation to the values of presented somatometric parameters and indices of the body build, clearly prove that the studies in the rural environment need to be continued.

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