DYNAMIC CHANGES OF SOME ANTHROPOMETRIC INDICES OF THE NEWBORN CHILDREN IN PLOVDIV FOR A PERIOD OF 70 YEARS (1939 – 2009)

Abstract

Introduction: The periodical tracking and comparison of the physical development indices give an idea of the dynamics of the acceleration and the efficiency of the social and medical events for a protection of maternity.Aim: Tracing the accelerative changes of the newborn Bulgarian children for 70 years.Materials and methodology: The study is retrospective longitudinal research and includes the period 1939 – 2009. The initial information of the last survey was obtained at the Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University Hospital St George – Plovdiv for the period 1 Jan 2009 – 31 Dec 2009. For the statistical processing is used variation analysis.Results and discussion: The dynamic changes of two anthropometric indices are traced – height and body mass. There are two periods in the survey. The first, a 46-year period, is characterized by an apparent increase in the values of the two indices until 1975, inclusive, after which the acceleration rate gradually slows down. During the second ten-year period, 1985 – 1995, there is a sharp decrease in the height and the body mass of the newborns, as their values are back to the level of 1946-47. The authors relate this negative tendency with the economic situation in the country, with the progressive impoverishment of the population, with the unemployment and the uncertainty in the future. In the last period, 1995 – 2009, there is a slight increase in the values.Conclusions: This survey is the most extended study of the physical development of the newborn children in Bulgaria. The accelerative changes in the basic indices for physical development start in the antenatal period. The social factors are the basis for acceleration.