Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Science Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow
The analysis of secular dynamics of children growth processes is one of the most high-demand aspects of children monitoring throughout the world, and it contributes to the interpretation of microevolutionary dynamics of the human morphological parameters in the anthropogenic environment and aids in the adjustment of children growth charts for pediatric practice. The urgency of monitoring childrens’ physical development in the beginning of postnatal ontogenesis – newborn and infancy periods – is determined by the significance of their anthropometric parameters as the marker of individual growth and development trajectories, and a marker of population reproductive status and the level of the environmental well-being in general. This study aims at investigating temporal variability of physical development indices of newborns and 12-months old infants from urban areas of modern Russia and the former USSR throughout several decades, from 1920th till present day, to be able to assess the most general patterns of secular trends. To estimate the vector and the level of associations of anthropometric indices with the temporal factor dispersion diagrams were used. The study summarizes the data on 338 newborn samples and 186 12-months old infant samples. The article deals with summarized data from different ethnic samples, thus characterizing the physical development status of newborns and infants of the soviet and post-soviet space in general. The temporal dynamics of the increase in stature suggests secular acceleration of skeletal development at the beginning of ontogenesis, common for both sexes and both ontogenetic periods –newborn (about 2 cm, r=0,35–0,40, p=0,00) and infancy (3,8–4,7 cm, r=0,37–0,47, p=0,00). This trend is combined with the temporal stability of body mass measures in children of both sexes in the newborn and infancy periods, suggesting temporal increase in leptosomy in children at the beginning of ontogenesis. Different temporal dynamics in chest circumference is shown for newborns and infants. The trend toward increase in chest circumference for the newborns of both sexes levels off by the age of 12 months. The newborn head circumference decreases from 1950th to 2000th by 1,1–1,2 cm, which coincides with the decrease in the maternal pelvic width, reported in the literature. At the same time the 12-months old infants show temporal stability of this parameter through 1950th – 1990th period. The temporal decrease in the head circumference growth of the newborns is completely compensated by the end of the first year of life. The heterochrony of the temporal dynamics of different physical development indices in the beginning of the ontogenesis leads to the temporal increase in lepthosomy. Difference in temporal dynamics of physical development parameters of newborns and infants is determined indirectly by the relationship between intrauterine growth and maternal morphology and the compensatory character of growth during breastfeeding period. This leads to significant reorganization of intergroup variability of main anthropometric parameters through the first year of postnatal life.
anthropology, physical development, anthropometry, newborns, infants, temporal dynamics, urban samples
Цит.: Fedotova T.K., Gorbacheva A.K. Physical development of infants and newborns of Russian cities: secular dynamics // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2017; 2/2017; с. 26-38
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