Secular changes in height and weight of Stockholm schoolchildren born in 1933, 1943, 1953 and 1963

Abstract

Secular growth changes of Stockholm schoolchildren born in 1933, 1943, 1953 and 1963 were studied through samples of about 2500 children in each year. Heights and weights at the ages 7, 10 and 13 years were obtained from school health records stored in the Stockholm city archives. The increase in height and weight at these ages was more marked between the children born in 1933 and 1943 than later, except for the girls aged 7, who had no increase in height. The increase in height between the later samples was at age 7 years practically none, at age 10 years about 1 cm/decade and at age 13 years 1-2 cm/decade. The body mass index (BMI) indicated a continuous trend towards a slimmer body build for Stockholm schoolchildren at the age of 7 years. At the ages of 10 and 13 years the BMI remained fairly stable for the cohorts born from 1943 to 1963.

The association between nutritional conditions during World War II and childhood anthropometric variables in the Nordic countries

“…The height and weight reduction among 10-year-old girls in Sweden during WWII is based on only one measurement and a small sample size of 100, which make this finding prone to random variation. Data published earlier, with access to the complete health records, published a height of 137.5 cm for girls aged 10 years measured in 1943, and 139.0 cm for 1953 (Cernerud and Lindgren 1991). Our corresponding figures were 136.5 and 143.5 cm.…”

“…There was only one measurement for children aged 13 years during this period, therefore this group was excluded. Some of these data have been published previously (Cernerud and Lindgren 1991).…”

Secular changes in body height and weight of Portuguese boys over one century

“…These trends, on the other hand, may not be completely synchronic between the Colégio Militar samples and the rest of the population since improvements in living conditions and health tend to affect the higher classes first (Cambois et al, 2001;Haines, 1995;Marmot et al, 1987). This delay is suggested when data from the national mixed-longitudinal growth survey carried out between 1971and 1981(Rosa, 1983) are compared with data from the Colégio Militar for the period 1961-1966. Secular trends to increasing childhood height and weight in most European countries have been documented since the late 19th century with the greatest increase occurring right before or after the Second World War (Aubenque and Pineau, 1979;Cameron, 1979;Cernerud and Lindgren, 1991;Fredriks et al, 2000;Krawczynski, et al, 2003;Ljung et al, 1974;Papadimitriou et al, 2002;Prebeg et al, 1995;Rosique et al, 2001;Sanna et al, 1993;Zellner et al, 1996). Portugal, however, shows a pattern where it was not until some time after World War II that the increase in mean height accelerated.…”

“…Since the structure of the student population at the Colégio Militar is similar across the different cohorts of boys, they are comparable over time. These are important concerns when examining secular changes in growth (Cernerud andLindgren 1991, Zellner et al, 1996). In this study, it is hypothesized that major changes in height and weight of Portuguese children only occurred after the 1960s.…”

Development of the obesity epidemic in Denmark: Cohort, time and age effects among boys born 1930–1975

“…Bruntland et al 18 reported average weight for height in school children in Oslo from 1920 through 1975 and found no overall increase, but a sharp decline and subsequent rebound during and after the second world war. Cernerud et al 19 reported minor secular changes in mean BMI among Stockholm school children in the birth years 1933, 1943, 1953 and 1963. Peckham et al 4 compared the prevalence of obesity (relative weight b 120% of internal standards of weight for sex, age and height) at the ages 7 ± 16 y in the national birth cohorts from 1946 and 1958, and found an increase in the 7 years old children (from 2% to 4% for the boys).…”