摘要:

AbstractAn examination of intra‐ and inter‐observer error in child anthropometry and variation between two skinfold calipers was conducted as part of a large prospective study of maternal and child nutrition in Malawi, Central Africa. Measurements include length, weight, head and arm circumferences, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and estimated cross‐sectional arm fat and arm muscle areas. Total observer error, expressed as a percentage of total variance in each trait, is ⩽3.2% for length, weight, and head circumference; 7% for arm circumference; 10% for arm fat area; and 16–20% for skinfolds and arm muscle area. When total observer error is divided into the two additive components studied, intraobserver error represents approximately 50% or more of total observer error for most traits. An exception is the subscapular skinfold for which intra‐observer represents 38% of total observer error. Errors of this magnitude will cause an attenuation of approximately 10% in the correlation coefficients between anthropometric and other variables, and a loss of power in attempting to detect associations between anthropometric variables and either their determinants or outcomes. However, the effects of errors of this magnitude are minor compared to those encountered in studies correlating nutrient intake with other variables. This study also finds that the SlimGuide caliper systematically overestimates skinfolds at low readings and underestimates skinfolds at high readingss relative to the La

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030302

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractAs part of a larger project investigating the health of rural villagers in Kashmir, India anthropometric data were collected from 132 residents of the highland village of Basmina. Here data for 70 children (53% of the total sample) less than 10 years old are examined and compared to United States reference data and presented as a percentage of the median and Z‐scores to describe nutritional status differences by age and sex. Overall, these children maintain indices of weight/age, stature/age, and arm circumference (AC)/age at almost −2.0 Z‐scores or more below reference medians. Weight/height and triceps skinfold/age approximate −1.4 and −1.3 Z‐scores below the median, respectively. These data along with clinical observations suggest that the Basmina sample is low normal to mildly malnourished. However, preschool children show evidence of moderate and severe malnutrition. The entire child sample shows a higher prevalence of malnutrition when compared to other populations living under similar conditions. The results are contrary to the belief that Indian girls are at a nutritional disadvantage when compared to boys. In fact, preschool girls maintain higher, though not significant, percentages of weight/age, weight/height, and AC/age. Girls between 5 and 10 years old also maintain a higher triceps/age index. On the other hand, boys between 5 and 10 years old maintain a higher stature/age index, but the difference is not statistically

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030303

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractAge at menarche was estimated using status quo techniques on a sample of 230 rural South African females aged 11 to 17 years. Mean age of menarche was 14.03 years (SD = 1.25 years). Compared with contemporary rural and well‐off urban samples, these females experienced menarche 0.6 years earlier than did the rural sample and 0.8 years later than the well‐off urban group. Data from 11 previously reported studies of menarcheal age in urban and rural girls were analyzed with these data to determine the existence and magnitude of secular trends and whether rates differed between urban and rural environments. Regression analysis demonstrated a clear secular trend in both urban and rural females since 1943. Menarcheal age decreased at a rate of 0.34, 0.73, and 0.46 years per decade for rural, urban, and combined groups, respectively. The decline in menarcheal age over the last 40 years is thought to be due to improving socioeconomic conditions, but differences between urban and rural groups remain. Within rural groups there appears to be considerable variation in menarcheal

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030304

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractHeight and weight were measured in a health screening of the population in Nord‐Trøndelag, Norway. Correlations for the body mass index were computed for 23,936 pairs of spouses, 43,586 pairs of parents and offspring, 19,151 pairs of siblings, 1,251 pairs of grandparents and grandchildren, 1,146 cognate avuncular pairs, 801 noncognate avuncular pairs, 168 pairs of same‐sexed twins, and smaller groups of other types of relatives. Correlations were largely independent of age and age difference within pairs of relatives, suggesting a stable effect of the same set of genes and familial environment throughout adulthood. No effect of convergence during marriage could be detected. Correlations were approximately .20 for parents and offspring, .26 for same‐sexed siblings, .20 for opposite‐sexed siblings, .58 for monozygotic twins, and close to zero for most second‐order relatives. Results from structural equation model‐fitting indicate a broad heritability of .4, much of which is due to genetic dominance or other genetic n

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030305

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe two‐stage polynomial growth curve model is described and a GAUSS program to perform the associated computations is documented and made available to interested readers. The two‐stage model is similar to that considered by us earlier (Schneiderman and Kowalski:American Journal of Physical Anthropology67:323–333, 1985;American Journal of Human Biology1:31–42, 1989), i.e., it is appropriate for the analysis of one‐sample longitudinal data collected at either equal or unequal time intervals. Here, however, the covariance matrix, Σ, instead of being considered arbitrary, is now assumed to have the special structure Σ = W A W′ + σ2I. We show the conditions under which this special structure may be expected to arise and how it may be exploited to produce sharper results in certain situations. The method and the program are illustrated and the results are contrasted to those obtained when Σ is arbitrary. It is suggested that the two‐stage model is more efficient when the same degree polynomial is adequate to model the data in the two situations, but that, should a higher degree be necessary for the two‐stage model, confidence intervals and/or bands may be wider than those correspon

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030306

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractData were collected during 1987 on 84 Baiga and 146 Gond males, ages 7 years to 18 years, living in rural regions of Madhya Pradesh State (India). Comparisons are made between Baiga and Gond males for 11 measures of body size, one measure of body form, and the body mass index (BMI). Somatic comparisons (standing height, body weight, and skelic index) were made at 5 ages with earlier samples of rural Indian males. Across all ages Gond males exceed their Baiga peers in standing height, sitting height, shoulder width, and body weight. Skelic index values (lower limb height expressed relative to sitting height) are similar for both ethnic groups through late childhood, but thereafter values are higher for Baiga males. Through age 15 years, Gond males exceed other rural Indian males from various tribes in standing height and body weight; lower limb height expressed relative to sitting height is highest for Baiga males.

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030307

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractBiological interpretations of a competing hazards model intended to express the age pattern of mortality throughout the life span are evaluated using cause of death data. The model examined is the Siler model, which consists of three competing hazards, immature, residual, and senescent. The data employed are the worldwide sample of life tables and decremented life tables, that is, life tables with a cause of death eliminated, assembled by Preston et al. (Causes of Death Life Tables for National Populations. New York: Seminar Press, 1972). The results indicate that causes of death are accounted for by the model in a manner consistent with the biological interpretations of the hazard functions. For example, the cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, and other degenerative diseases are accounted for by the senescent component of morality. This is a valuable characteristic of the model that may prove useful for assessing errors in cause of death data and identifying variation in the impact of a cause of death on the age patterns of mortality. For example, only 30% of deaths classified as due to other and unknown causes are attributed by the model to the senescent component of mortality and are consequently likely to be due to degenerative diseases. This finding contradicts the conventional assumption that the majority of other and unknown causes of death are due to the degenerative diseases. Additional results show that certain causes of death, such as influenza, pneumonia, and bronchitis, can occur in different components of mortality, suggesting that some categories of death may express several different etiologies. Partial correlation analysis indicates that much of this variation in etiology occurs among (and not within) populations. It is concluded that the Siler model is a useful framework for studying historical and/or cross‐national trends in mortalit

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030308

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030309

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030311

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:1042-0533    

DOI:10.1002/ajhb.1310030312

出版商:Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company    

年代:1991

数据来源: WILEY