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- Title
ABKHAZIA REVISITED: SECULAR CHANGES IN THE TWO GENERATIONS OF RURAL CHILDREN.
- Authors
Godina, E.; Batsevich, V.; Yasina, O.; Prudnikova, A.
- Abstract
388 children in the age from 6 to 17 years (183 boys and 205 girls), living in two rural districts of Abkhazia, were investigated cross-sectionally in 2004. The program included about 30 anthropometric measurements, the evaluation of the developmental stages of secondary sexual characteristics, information on the menarcheal age by status quo and retrospective methods. Information on the child's and the parents' birth place, parental occupation and education, as well as the number of children per family was collected by the questionnaire. The results were compared with the data obtained by N. Miklashevskaya and colleagues in 1979-1981 as a part of the "Abkhazian longevity" project (Miklashevskaya et al., 1982). In both generations children and adolescents from the same villages were measured: the Chlou village of the Ochamchirsky district (rayon) and the Duripsh village of the Gudautsky district (rayon). The two investigations were separated by a very dramatic set of political and socio-economic changes, which took place in the Republic of Abkhazia, including the end of the Soviet era and the 1992-1993 war between Abkhazia and Georgia. The analysis reveals that the stature, weight and the BMI of prepubertal children (8 to 11 in girls and 8 to 12 in boys) does not demonstrate any significant changes, while the modern generation of teenagers shows an increase in the above mentioned characteristics. The differences are statistically significant. This trend is typical both for the children from different villages and for the combined sample. For body diameters (shoulder and pelvic width) there are no significant changes in the whole age range. Skinfold thickness and body fat content (kg and %) also increased in the modern generation of pubertal children. Possible explanations of the results are discussed.
- Subjects
ABKHAZIA (Georgia); GEORGIA; HUMAN body composition; RURAL children; HUMAN ecology; SKINFOLD thickness; ADIPOSE tissues
- Publication
Papers on Anthropology, 2007, Vol 16, p100
- ISSN
1406-0140
- Publication type
Article