Urbanization-dependent gradients in stature among polish conscripts in 1976 and 1986.

Abstract

On the basis of two successive surveys of 19-year-old Polish conscripts, one in 1976 and another in 1986, secular trends in stature and the relationship between stature and population size of locality of habitation were examined. In spite of the serious economic crisis in the early 1980s and a rather abrupt cessation of the trend towards earlier menarche in Poland between 1977 and 1987, the trend towards taller stature continued unabated and was intense (2.0 cm in the general population). In 1976, stature decreased systematically with decreasing population size in the following order: (1) cities over 500,000, (2) cities between 100,000 and 500,000, (3) towns between 25,000 and 100,000, (4) towns below 25,000, and (5) villages. A similar gradient persisted in the 1986 survey. In 1986, about one-half of the total statural gradient was accounted for by the gap between rural conscripts and those next on the urbanization scale, i.e., conscripts from the smallest towns, and the magnitude of this gap was unaltered during the decade. However, the rural-large city gap has declined from 3.6 cm in 1976 to 2.8 cm in 1986. The relative shortness of rural conscripts and the tallness of their large-city age peers are consistent with the pattern of social variation in stature and maturation rate observed among Polish school children and with the country's postwar economic and social history.