Sitting heights in Sheffield, 1985: have standards changed?

A community study was performed on 354 schoolchildren aged 4 to 13 years to assess whether the published UK standards for sitting height and leg length applied to the local population. The schoolchildren showed no significant difference from UK standards in standing height, but had significantly shorter sitting heights and significantly longer legs. When compared to children measured in several European studies, the Sheffield children had normal sitting: standing height ratios, whereas ratios from the published UK standards were significantly greater than those from the rest of Europe.