Body size of contemporary groups of preschool children studied in different parts of the world.

Abstract

Comparisons are made among means for measures of body size on 160 samples of 4-year-old children. The samples assembled were drawn mainly between 1950 and 1960 in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South American, the West Indies, and the Malay Archipelago. Variables examined are standing height; sitting height; body weight; width, depth, and girth of head; chest circumference; hip width; lower limb length; and girth of calf. At age 4 years, contemporary populations of children are found to differ as much as 7 inches in mean height and 13 pounds in mean weight. There is moderately strong, positive association of height and weight averages among coeval groups.