Growth in Body Size: A Compendium of Findings on Contemporary Children Living in Different Parts of the World

Abstract

This chapter focuses on somatic development during the segment of human ontogeny between birth and the beginning of adolescence. From studies across the globe, findings are assembled for groups of infants and children measured largely between 1950 and 1965. Body weight and stature are investigated widely. Other variables, including head girth, sitting height, chest girth, shoulder width, hip width, arm girth, and calf girth are also discussed. The chapter serves a threefold function: It colligates quantities of knowledge currently scattered in scientific journals, books, monographs, and unpublished documents; it provides composite statistics able to support more substantial and precise inferences than the statistics available in the piecemeal reports; and it yields new generalizations through the alignment and intercomparison of results.