Over the last decades, the life circumstances have changed considerably, which has great consequences on the physical characteristics and physical development of children and adolescents. Changes are much greater than they were in thousands of years of human development. The aim of the study was to determine the secular differences in body weight and body height of Slovenian children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years.
We used data from the cross-sectional study ACDSi (Analysis of Childrens Development (Trends) in Slovenia), which includes 11 primary schools from all over Slovenia. The survey was carried out on a representative sample of children and youth between the ages of 7 and 18 in the same schools every ten years (1970, 1983, 1993/94, 2003/04 and 2013/14). We analyzed the data obtained from five generations (N = 5), the total sample included 20810 participants (n = 20.810). In order to test the differences in body height between the measurement periods, a one-way variance analysis was used for each age group. In order to test the differences in body mass between the measurement periods, a covariance analysis was used for each age group. The complete analysis was carried out at a pre-established risk level of 5% and presented in the spreadsheets.
Regarding the body hight in both genders significant differences were established between the years of measurement in most age periods (7 to 15 years). At age 16 and 17, statistically significant differences in body height were found only in boys, while in the 18 and 19 year old we did not find similar differences. From this we conclude that intergenerationally changing is particularly the time of physical maturation while at the end of the period of physical growth there is no intergenerational difference.
In the body mass, there were significant differences in both genders in comparison with years of measurement in the age range of 7 to 16 years. At age 17 and 18, statistically significant differences in body weight were found only in boys. In all cases, body height expressed a significant impact on body mass differences between the measurement periods in each age group. The highest impact of the thirty year period (1983-2013) on weight gain was found in boys in the following age groups: 8 years (a change for 17,5 %), 10 years (21,0 %), 11 years (20,5 %), 14 years (16,0 %) and 15 years (9,5 %).
Our findings could also be used in ergonomic design and manufacturing of school furniture and sports equipment/devices as well as for setting standards and normatives for such equipment and activities. In order to ensure the individual adaptation to each child/youngster is acheived, it would be advisable to work on innovative solutions of dimensionally and functionally adaptable furniture.
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