Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
1) Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya st., 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia; 2) Abkhazian Institute of Humanities Research, Sukhum, Abkhazia
Kokoba Elizaveta G., e-mail: kokoba.e@yandex.ru; Tchizhicova T., e-mail: tchizhicova@rambler.ru; Kvitziniya P.K., e-mail: Lamara22@rambler.ru
Somatic characteristics of rural Abkhazians investigated in 1980 (942 individuals), in 1990 (500 individuals) and in 2010 (496 individuals) are analyzed. The total number of the individuals surveyed in the villages Dzhgerda, Chlou and Pokvesh was 1924: 1056 men and 868 women aged 20 to 97 years old. In 1980 485 men and 443 women were studied. In 1990 300 men and 200 women were studied, and in 2010 – 271 men and 225 women. The material is presented for each year of the survey over the decades. Main body parameters (body length, body weight, chest circumference) were compared cross-sectionally between the three surveys and semi-longitudinally. Statistical significance of mean differences was calculated with the Student’s T-test. Empirical distributions of characteristics for each age group in the three surveys were examined. Absolute differences of mean values of body length from one age group to another do not exceed the value of one standard deviation. A longitudinal study of data for the same age groups of the three surveys in body length revealed significant differences only between the cohorts 40-49 in the surveys 1980 and 1990, due to a smaller number of individuals in the cohort born in 1930’s, because growth and development in childhood and adolescence in this cohort coincided with particularly unfavorable conditions of the period of collectivization in Abkhazia (destruction of the traditional way of life), political repressions, and then the 2nd World war. Height of men at the age cohort of 20-29 years in the 2010 survey is smaller by an average of 1.43 cm than that of men in the same age cohort in the 1990 survey, but the difference is not significant. This may be explained by the fact that the early period of their childhood coincided with the hardships of the 1992-1993 war. Age changes in body mass are more influenced by the environment. In the surveys of 1980 and 1990 only small changes in body weight with age were marked, as well as reduced total body fat, «normal» body mass (Quetelet index), which probably was one of the factors of longevity. In the 2010 study in men and women of all age groups, the absolute average values of body mass are greater except for the cohort of 20-29. For this survey a greater rate of weight changes with age is also shown. In women’s groups statistically significant increase in body weight is revealed, up to the values defined as «obese» category. This suggests the possibility of health problems in future, which may lead to increased risk factors for life expectancy. Except for the group of 20-29 years, all age groups in 2010 are characterized by larger values of chest circumference, comparatively to the same-age cohorts of the two previous surveys, but no significant differences were revealed. The average chest circumference for men and women from the 20-29 cohort surveyed in 2010 was less than in 1990. Thus, young generation of Abkhazians surveyed in 2010 is characterized by weak physical development. Higher values of standard deviations and variation coefficients of body weight and chest circumference for the Abkhazians in the third survey indicate the process of adaptation to new socio-economic conditions. The results show that environmental factors have an impact on the physical status of the genetically stable population of rural Abkhazians.
physical anthropology, morphology, Abkhazians, body length, body weight, chest circumference, body mass index, semi-longitudinal methods, age changes, age groups, secular trend, canonical analysis
Цит.: Kokoba E.G., Tchizhicova T., Kvitziniya P.K. Age and secular dynamics of total somatic characteristics of the Abkhazians // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2012; 1/2012; с. 92-109
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