Conditions Associated with the Growth of Boys, 1950-1

Physique and family environment in girls attending a Welsh college.

“…The demonstration of a social class effect on height is in accordance with other studies which show similar class differences in Britain (Hammond, 1957;Berry and Cowin, 1954;Tanner, 1965). The absence of a significant increase in height with year of birth, in the Welsh sample, may be attributed to the small range of birth years covered (less than a decade) and the small sample size, and, therefore, the present data are inadequate to show secular change; it is of relevance that the regression coefficient is in the same direction as the well-established secular trend that has occurred in western European young adult populations since about 1870 at the rate of 0'6 to 0-8 cm.…”

“…Similar factors probably account for the effect ofposition in family; this was interpreted by Grant (1964) as indicating that the advent of each additional child per family acts as a check to the growth of all preceding sibs, and this interpretation was supported by the evidence of birth spacing, children following soon after their older sib tending to be smaller than those where there is a greater interval; environment, either in infancy or antenatally, seems clearly implicated. The social class effect appears more complex in origin; it is by no means clear to some that 'class' is anything other than an indirect measure of some more fundamental variable, such as nutrition, or the standard of parental care given to the child (Berry and Cowin, 1954). All these variables of home environment are closely interrelated; with better socio-economic status generally occur better nutrition, the habits of regular meals, sleep, exercise and general organization, so that no study has yet been able to disentangle their effects.…”

A survey of the nutritional status of schoolchildren. Relation between nutrient intake and socio-economic factors.

“…Many studies have demonstrated the influence social class, family size, and mother's work status have on the height and weight of children (Berry and Cowin, 1954;Topp et al, 1970;Davie, Butler, and Goldstein, 1972) and these differences have been attributed in part to differences in nutrition. It may be that quality of diet, as assessed by nutrient intake/1,000 kcal, is of more importance in relatively prosperous countries than total nutrient intake in its influence on growth.…”

Intelligence, Physique, and Family Size

“…Berry and Cowin (1954) have shown that, although there were differences in physical size between 14-year-old boys associated with parents' social class, there were still greater differences Table IV) between grammar and secondary modem school boys whose fathers had the same occupations. Table VII shows the mean heights at standardized ages of pupils at different kinds of secondary school.…”