OBJECTIVES: The aim was to determine whether an intergenerational trend toward increased stature is slowing down, and whether body weight has recently increased among young men in Poland, as it has in Western European countries. METHODS: Data were taken from six national surveys of 19-year-old Polish male conscripts from cohorts 1965, 1976, 1986, 1995, 2001, and 2010. RESULTS: The mean stature of this population increased throughout the last 45 years from 170.5 cm in 1965 to 178.3 in 2010. However, the average gain in stature per decade declined from 2.4 cm in the period 1965 to 1976 to 0.8 cm per decade in 1995 to 2001, but increased to 1.0 cm in the last period. The average of body weight increased from 63.2 kg in 1965 to 73.1 in 2010 and body mass index (BMI) rose from 21.73 to 22.94 in the same period. The tempo of increase varied in different periods; between 1965 and 1986 an insignificant increase was observed (of circa 0.12); in 1986 to 1995 there was no increase, whereas the period of 2001 to 2010 witnessed a significant increase (of circa 0.76). CONCLUSIONS: The trend of body size and stature increase within the Polish population, although decelerating, remained positive and steady during the last 45 years. No significant impact of the past half-century's socioeconomic crises was observed in these measures of growth. We concluded that during the economic crises some effective mechanism protecting the living conditions of the children and youth were operating within the population.
OBJECTIVES: The aim was to determine whether an intergenerational trend toward increased stature is slowing down, and whether body weight has recently increased among young men in Poland, as it has in Western European countries. METHODS: Data were taken from six national surveys of 19-year-old Polish male conscripts from cohorts 1965, 1976, 1986, 1995, 2001, and 2010. RESULTS: The mean stature of this population increased throughout the last 45 years from 170.5 cm in 1965 to 178.3 in 2010. However, the average gain in stature per decade declined from 2.4 cm in the period 1965 to 1976 to 0.8 cm per decade in 1995 to 2001, but increased to 1.0 cm in the last period. The average of body weight increased from 63.2 kg in 1965 to 73.1 in 2010 and body mass index (BMI) rose from 21.73 to 22.94 in the same period. The tempo of increase varied in different periods; between 1965 and 1986 an insignificant increase was observed (of circa 0.12); in 1986 to 1995 there was no increase, whereas the period of 2001 to 2010 witnessed a significant increase (of circa 0.76). CONCLUSIONS: The trend of body size and stature increase within the Polish population, although decelerating, remained positive and steady during the last 45 years. No significant impact of the past half-century's socioeconomic crises was observed in these measures of growth. We concluded that during the economic crises some effective mechanism protecting the living conditions of the children and youth were operating within the population.
Authors: Bartosz Musielak; Anna Maria Kubicka; Michał Rychlik; Jarosław Czubak; Adam Czwojdziński; Andrzej Grzegorzewski; Marek Jóźwiak Journal: PeerJ Date: 2019-02-20 Impact factor: 2.984
Authors: Monika Lopuszanska-Dawid; Przemysław Kupis; Anna Lipowicz; Halina Kołodziej; Alicja Szklarska Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-09-25 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Dusko Bjelica; Jovan Gardasevic; Zoran Milosevic; Predrag R Bozic; Bojan Masanovic Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-05-20 Impact factor: 3.390