Особенности физического и нервно- психического развития детей 7–8 лет, проживающих в центральной и северной частях Хабаровского края

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate physical and neuropsychological development of children aged 7–8 years residing in different climatic and geographic zones of Khabarovsk region. Patients and methods. This cohort study aimed to analyze physical development of children aged 7–8 years from the Central (n = 266) and Northern (n = 70) parts of Khabarovsk region by calculating their Z-scores of weight, height, and BMI. Two groups of healthy children (30 in each group) who resided in these regions since birth were formed to assess cognitive skills (including memory, logical thinking, and motor skills) and the level of minerals using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) Results. The assessment of physical development of children living in Khabarovsk region (regardless of their exact place of residence) demonstrated that 5% of them had malnutrition, 18% were overweight, 9% were obese, and 4% had stunted growth. Children from the Northern part of the region were twice as likely to be overweight and 8.6 times more likely to have stunted growth than children from the Central part of the region. We identified specific characteristics of children belonging to indigenous ethnic groups of the North: stunted growth was three times more common in them compared to Russian children. These children also demonstrated lower cognitive skills, which can be attributed to deficiency of magnesium, calcium, copper and selenium (minerals critical for the development of the central nervous system) along with excessive levels of manganese. Conclusion. Children living in cold climates cannot fulfil their potential for linear growth. Both physical and intellectual development are presumably associated with adaptation of children to suboptimal environmental conditions and the deficiency and/or excess of minerals originating from the specificity of biogeochemical provinces. Key words: physical development, neuropsychological development, primary school children, Far North, minerals