Anthropometry in Ethiopian private school children. CNU report No. 40.

Abstract

For the purpose of establishing local anthropometric standards, 1,263 Ethiopian children of both sexes, 5–16 years of age, attending two private schools in Addis Ababa, were investigated. The school fees were such that only relatively well-to-do families were able to keep their children in these schools. The study was made more complicated by the difficulty in obtaining exact ages. After reducing the group to those for whom relatively valid information on age was obtained, the weight, height and upper arm circumference were found to be evidently inferior to western standards. On the other hand, the weight and upper arm circumference were significantly superior to those in underprivileged Ethiopian children of corresponding age and sex. No significant difference was found in height, however. The biceps and triceps skinfold thicknesses usually lay at the level of 75–80% of the British standard, except for girls 14–16 years of age, for whom higher values of triceps skinfold were recorded. Partly because of the difficulty in assessment of age, and partly because no adolescents of the upper teen-ages were investigated, no definite conclusions can be drawn as to the normal growth of Ethiopian school-age children living under relatively good socioeconomic conditions. As an alternative temporary solution, until Ethiopian standards with age as reference become available, tables of weight und upper arm circumference, using height as a reference were elaborated.