Features of morphophysiological development of rural children and adolescents of Chuvashia and Nizhny Novgorod region

Abstract

Introduction. Due to the need to identify patterns of formation of the morphophysiological status of rural schoolchildren in modern intensively changing economic and demographic conditions, this work is devoted to the study of the characteristics of schoolchildren in Chuvashia and the Nizhny Novgorod region. Materials and methods. The results of the survey of children and youth of the Yadrinsky district of the Chuvash Republic (333 girls and 298 boys), as well as Russian rural schoolchildren living in the Arzamas district of the Nizhny Novgorod region (1930 girls and 1635 boys), aged 7 to 17 years, were used in the work. The examinations were carried out according to the program adopted in Russian anthropology, the total body dimensions were included and analyzed: body height and weight, BMI, chest circumference. In addition, the rate of ontogenesis in the examined girls was estimated: the frequency of menarche age was calculated in each group. Results and discussion. For schoolchildren of the Arzamas region of the Nizhny Novgorod region, large average values of total body size are characteristic, pronounced in the case of body height and chest circumference. Analysis of the percentile curves of the BMI of the surveyed contingent suggests a shift in the boundaries of variation of the indicator in the greater direction in Russians, especially in the area of increased values of the indicator corresponding to overweight and obesity. The frequency of occurrence of individuals with borderline BMI values in the examined groups does not demonstrate significant differences, which may be evidence of a similar nature of the shifts in physical development occurring in them. The analysis of the rates of ontogenesis using the age of menarche confirms the earlier puberty of schoolgirls of the Nizhny Novgorod region. At the same time, however, intergenerational analysis of tempos of ontogenesis confirms the continuation of acceleration processes in the Chuvash group, while no similar trend was found among Nizhny Novgorod residents. Conclusion. Russian and Chuvash schoolchildren, the results obtained allow us to make a cautious conclusion about the similarity of the shifts in physical development occurring in the groups of Chuvash and Russian schoolchildren, which are more pronounced in the case of the latter, as evidenced by the earlier puberty of Russian girls. The continuation of acceleration processes in the Chuvash group indicates that this group is in conditions of less social stability.