Ethnic variability of growth processes through the prism of sexual dimorphism of body dimensions (based on data of early and first childhood children)

Abstract

The study deals with the process of forming of the level and vector of sex somatic differences through early and first childhood, specific peculiarities of sexual dimorphism at 3–6 years of age as compared to the sexual dimorphism of adults, ethnic heterogeneity of sexual dimorphism dynamics of main anthropometric dimensions (height, weight, chest girth); most adequate algorithms of analysis of data considering age peculiarities. Generali-zation of vast material on children of Russia and former USSR of 1950s–2010s (over 200 samples) allowed to describe convincing conformities of intergroup distribution of sex somatic dimorphism; different by sex vector of significant correlations of standardized levels of sexual dimorphism of dimensions with average population values of dimensions themselves — positive for boys , negative for girls, which may be interpreted as confirmation of the contribution of somatic variability of both sexes to forming of sexual differences. When analyzed of data locally, under greater enlargement, sexual dimorphism allowed to estimate inter-ethnic specificity of somatic growth dy-namics. In particular, definite sex synchrony of growth dynamics of Russian children regardless of the ecological niche of development through early and first childhood; similar synchrony for some groups of different ethnicity. To fix well known in age physiology effect of decreasing of growth activity before semigrowth spurt, which chrono-logical age differs between populations, for the case of more homogeneous groups. Thus, the results show the sensitivity of sexual dimorphism of body dimensions as the informative indicator of ethno-territorial diversity of somatic status and growth dynamics through early and first childhood.