Macroscopic Evaluation of Child Growth in Asian Ethnic Groups by Simple Evaluating Method (Growth Grid Method)

Abstract

Preparation of well arranged statistical data on growth and nutrition of an ethnic group has large academic value and is vital to planning how to improve their health and nutrition. However, little data on such problems exists for ethnic groups. The author therefore propose a simple method, a growth grid method, applicable for preparing effective data indispensable to improving health and nutrition in situations where little basic data is available. We used the growth grid method to analyze health conditions of ethnic groups in Asia to better grasp their conditions.To macroscopically evaluate the growth of children (boys) from 7 to 17 years old, the growth grid uses data on stature of 7-year-old subjects (7ys) and average stature growth of subjects per year from 7 to 17 years old to evaluate growth conditions. The method uses quadratic coordinates with two data points. All data is distributed on the quadratic coordinates of the growth grid into five groups: (A) West Eurasian ethnic groups living in West Eurasia; (B) East Asian ethnic groups living in East Asia; (C) Silk Road ethnic groups living in central Asia; (D) Tibetan heights ethnic groups living in Tibetan highlands; and (E) Southeast Asian ethnic groups spread from Southwestern China to Southeast Asia. West Eurasian peoples (A) distributed in a group spread to upper right of quadratic coordinates. Group B is situated in the lower right quarter while Group D is at the upper left quarter, and Group C is sandwiched between groups B and D. Group E are small in stature and slow in growth tempo. The growth grid proved itself feasible for practical application proving growth process are highly dependent on localities where ethnic groups live.