An Anthropometric Study of Edinburgh Schoolchildren: Part I. Methods, Data and Assessment of Maturity

Abstract

The present study represents one part of a joint investigation of a stratified sample of Edinburgh schoolchildren carried out in collaboration with J. N. Mansbridge (who was investigating dentition and dental caries in the same sample) and with the statistical help of Dr. L. Stein and staff of the Department of Social Medicine, University of Edinburgh. The purpose of the anthropometric study was to provide, in the first instance, crosssectional data which could be used for comparison with similar measurements on other groups of Edinburgh children (e.g., premature babies, mental defectives and others), for comparing children in this city with other geographical populations and for subsequent use in studies of secular changes in the growth of schoolchildren over a period of years. The lack of recent Scottish data for any measurements other than those of height and weight, and the incompleteness even of such data over the whole age-range 5 to 18 years, was an additional reason for undertaking the survey. Clinical assessment of maturity was included in the investigation in order to provide data on age-onset of puberty in both sexes, for which no recent Scottish figures are available. The methods of sampling, techniques of measurement and statistical treatment are outlined, and the basis of classification of the children into maturity groups is indicated. All maturity-grading and measurements, except where otherwise stated, were carried out by one of us (H.S.P.). The basic data which are now presented will be discussed more fully, together with the frequency distributions of length and weight in a subsequent paper (Part H). MlethodsSample. It was desired to obtain as good a sample as possible of the day pupils in the city between the ages of 5 and 18 years: the planning and stratification of the sample was undertaken by the statistical section of the Department of Social Medicine. Ages were reckoned from the date of birth to the date of examination. Since socio-economic factors often influence growth, the children were divided into two groups: those attending local authority schools (non-fee-paying) and those attending private schools (fee-paying). The children were placed in age groups and the proportions of nonfee-paying and fee-paying were dictated by the proportion of schoolchildren in the appropriate group being educated in those types of school in Edinburgh during 1951. The percentages of boys from fee-paying schools in the investigation in each year-age group were approximately 13 from 5 to 11 years, 15 from 11 to 14 years, 18 from 14 to 15 years, and 44, 52 and 56 at 15+-, 16-and 17-years respectively. The corresponding figures for girls were approximately 12%,/ from 5 to 11 years, 14°o at 11 to 13 years, 12O% at 13 to 15 years, and 31, 43 and 440% at 15-, 16-and 17-years respectively.The research was made on 1,730 pupils, there being rather more boys than girls. The data for the two sexes were recorded separately.It was decided to select a few schools with large numbers of pupils extending over a wide age ra...

Observations on the Growth and Maturation of Indian Boys in Durban, South Africa

“…3 Sexual Mat'urity.-The findings are shown in Table III and Fig. 4 (overleaf), together with comparable data for English, Nigerian, and Scottish boys (Ellis, 1948(Ellis, , 1950Provis and Ellis, 1955).…”

“…Provis and Ellis (1955) make no comment on the possible reasons for the apparent discrepancy between the rate of maturation of Scottish and English children.…”

“…Comparable data, using the same grading method, are available for English (Ellis, 1948), Nigerian (Ellis, 1950), and Scottish boys (Provis and Ellis, 1955).…”

Physical Development of Schoolgirls in Upper Burma

“…Ellis (1950) studied puberty in Nigeria and found, in his second series, that the median age of the menarche was 14-4 years. This was significantly later than Wilson and Sutherland's (1949) figure of 13 6 for Oxford schoolgirls, the same authors' (1950) figure of 13-49 for Dorset, Oxford and Essex schoolgirls, and Provis and Ellis's (1955) figure of for Edinburgh schoolgirls. Wilson and Sutherland (1950) also recorded some observations from Ceylon, and showed a distinct urban-rural difference in the mean age of the menarche; the respective ages being 12-84 and 14-39 years.…”

“…The cessation of growth in height at the age of 14 is earlier than in the English series and it appears from these results that growth may take place earlier in children in the tropics. For instance, the average height and weight for a Scottish girl aged 11i years (Provis and Ellis, 1955) is 55-7 in. and 74 5 lb.…”