Growth and development of fat in adolescent school children in Victoria. Part 2. Influence of ethnic, geographic and socio-economic factors.

Abstract

Court, J. M., Dunlop, Marjorie, Reynolds, M., Russell, J. and Griffiths, Leonie (1976). Aust. paediat. J., 12, 305–312. Growth and development of fat in adolescent school children in Victoria. Part II. Influence of ethnic, geographic and socio‐economic factors.Data from the survey of growth attainment of 5347 Victorian school children aged 11 to 18 years has been analysed to determine the influence of ethnic, geographic and socio‐economic factors on measurements of height, weight and skin‐fold thickness.Children living in the country tended to be taller than those living in the metropolitan area of Melbourne, and were slimmer as measured by skinfold thickness.Second generation Australian boys were taller than boys from families in which one or both parents had migrated to Australia. The same was true for girls until the age of 15 years.Skinfold thickness measurements from children with Italian or Greek born parents were greater than second generation Australian children, most of whose families came originally from the U.K.The effect of socio‐economic factors on growth could not be assessed from this study because of overlap of the variables studied. It was concluded however that both ethnic and geographic factors were independently related to growth in height and body fat.