Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin

CHARACTER OF SECULAR CHANGES IN FUNCTIONAL INDICATORS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN OF POLOTSK (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS)

Polina Natalya

Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NAS), Minsk, Belarus

Polina Natalya, e-mail: natpolina@mail.ru.

Abstract

Dynamics of functional indices was followed for 8-, 13-, and 17-year-old schoolchildren of Polotsk. Data on 433 males and 450 females were collected in 2002 and 2012. There was a significant reduction of the systolic blood pressure (SBP) levels in 2012 relative to 2002: for 8-year-old males by 3.4 mm Hg (p < 0.05), for 13-year-olds – by 4.6 mm Hg (p < 0.01) and for 17-year-olds – by 8.7 mm Hg (p < 0.001). For females SBP decreased in all groups, but statistically significantly in 13-year-olds – by 9.8 mm Hg (p < 0.001) and in 17-year-olds – by 8.5 mm Hg (p < 0.001). Age changes of diastolic blood pressure in children were not so straightforward. Analysis of the pulse rate showed a significant secular decrease from 2002 to 2012: for 8-year-old males – 5.6 beats/min less (p < 0.01), for 13-year-olds – 7.2 beats/min less (p < 0.001), for 17-year-olds – 4.2 beats/min less (p < 0.02); for 8-year-old girls – 5.1 beats/min less (p < 0.001), for 13-year-olds – 9.9 beats/min less (p < 0.001), for 17-year-olds – 6.6 beats/min less (p < 0.001). Changes in hand dynamometry (HD) in the period from 2002 to 2012 were also investigated among Polotsk schoolchildren. A highly significant (p<0.001) decline of HD among 8-year-old boys was revealed: for the right hand – 1.6 kg less, for the left hand – 1.7 kg less. For children older than 10 years mean values of HD for both hands increased. In groups of males of 13- and 17-year-old the increase was up to 0.7–1.4 kg, though the differences were not significant. Among schoolgirls of all age groups HD values did not change. The decrease of hand strength among schoolchildren was observed in various countries, so the tendency for the HD level to grow parallel to the improvement of the functional traits of the cardiovascular system among adolescent boys of Polotsk deserves attention and might be connected with stabilization of ecological and economic situation in Belarus.

Keywords

schoolchildren, performance indicators, secular trend

Цит.: Polina Natalya CHARACTER OF SECULAR CHANGES IN FUNCTIONAL INDICATORS AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN OF POLOTSK (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2014; 3/2014; с. 60-60

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