Enamel hypoplasias related to famine stress in living Chinese.

The relationship between linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) and nutritional stress caused by a grave historical famine (1959-1961) was investigated among contemporary Chinese. Based on dental observations in a sample of 3,014 subjects from rural and urban China, and data on famine stress from a variety of historical sources, hypotheses regarding the relation between LEH and nutritional stress were tested. Famine stress raised LEH prevalence significantly in the birth cohorts having their teeth developing during famine years; therefore, a correlation between nutritional stress and formation of LEH as suggested by previous studies was indicated. Rural subjects had significantly higher LEH prevalence than urban subjects, and this was attributed to poorer nutritional and living conditions in rural areas. Males had a slightly higher LEH prevalence than females, so that female biological buffering to environmental stress appears to have outweighed possible cultural practice of daughter neglect in this difference. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:723-733, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.