Regional Features of the Dynamics of Physical Growth of Adolescents Aged 15–17 over the Past 30 Years

Abstract

Introduction: The study of physical growth of children, including adolescents, is one of the important research areas of pediatrics and healthcare management. Objective: To establish the features of physical development of adolescents aged 15–17 years over the past 30 years in the Ivanovo Region. Materials and methods: 180 and 274 adolescents were examined in the years 1994 and 2023, respectively, in municipal educational establishments of the city of Ivanovo. Their physical growth was assessed based on measurements taken using common methods of anthropometry. Means of body height and weight (M ± m) were calculated. Individual assessment of physical development was carried out using the sigma deviation method based on local age-specific standards. Data processing was conducted using generally accepted methods of variation statistics. The statistical significance of differences between the parameters was established using the Student’s t-test and nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test for normal and non-normal distributions, respectively. Results: We observed no growth acceleration processes in adolescents aged 15–17 years living in the Ivanovo Region over the past 30 years. Yet, we noticed an increase in the number of children with disproportionate physical development. By the age of 17 years, the percentage of children with normal physical development decreased (from 73.3 % to 63.8 %) while that of teenagers with deviations in physical growth, mainly underweight, increased (from 10.6 % to 23.6 %), with no statistical increase in height observed in the age range under study. We revealed no significant differences in the mean height between the boys aged 16 and 17 years, and in both weight and heigth between the girls aged 15, 16, and 17 years. Conclusions: We identified features of physical growth of adolescents aged 15–17 years over the past 30 years in the Ivanovo Region, all indicating the need for constant monitoring of anthropometric parameters with revision of regional standards every 10 years and the development of programs for prevention of developmental disorders in the region.