Secular trend in the stature and weight of Mexican‐American children in Texas between 1930 and 1970

Abstract

Statures and weights for four samples of Mexican-American children in Texas, measured in 1929-1931 and 1968-1972, were evaluated for evidence of a secular trend. The age range was 6 to 18 years, with more complete data from 8 through 15 years. There is no secular increase in the statures and weights of 6 year old children, a small increase in 8 year old children, and a larger secular increase at 10, 12, 14, and 15 years of age. From about 9 or 10 years of age on, the more recent Mexican-American children tend to have greater weights for their heights. The magnitude of the secular change per decade, however, is considerably smaller than rates for US black, white, European, and Japanese children. The estimated rates of secular change in stature for Mexican-American children approximate about one-fourth to one-half of the generalized rates for European and North American children offered by Meredith ('76) and Tanner ('77). Reasons for a limited secular trend in Texas Mexican-American children are probably bound to the matrix of lower socioeconomic circumstances, poorer health conditions, and marginal nutritional status.

Craniofacial Secular Change in Recent Mexican Migrants

“…Today, the term Hispanic is more often used than Mexican American, as Mexican American can refer to individuals born in the US or who migrated after birth, or second, third, or fourth generations born in the US (Malina et al 1986;Malina et al 1987a;Malina et al 1987b). The term Hispanic is not without its own terminological issues as it erases cultural identity, geographic origin (Melville 1988), and differences in genetic population structure (Bryc et al 2010).…”

“…Meadows Jantz and Jantz (1999), using postcranial metric data, found that secular changes occurred in the upper and lower limbs, although the magnitude was greater for lower limbs. Moreover, Jantz and Meadows Jantz (2000) found that cranial vault height parallels stature and can be used as a proxy to assess the overall health of a population.Historically, no skeletal data has been available for studies of secular change in the US that has paralleled that of American Blacks and Whites.Studies of secular change in Hispanics in the US typically focus on individuals from Mexico who have experienced secular changes because of exposure to a new environment during growth and development (Dewey et al 1983;Malina et al 1987a;Malina et al 1987b). Some have argued that physical changes do not occur until after the act of migration (Malina et al 1982), although…”

“…Studies of secular change in Hispanics in the US typically focus on individuals from Mexico who have experienced secular changes because of exposure to a new environment during growth and development (Dewey et al 1983;Malina et al 1987a;Malina et al 1987b). Some have argued that physical changes do not occur until after the act of migration (Malina et al 1982), although…”

Growth studies in Jena, Germany: Changes in body size and subcutaneous fat distribution between 1975 and 1995

“…Different secular trends are reflected on the literature (e.g., Malina and Zavaleta, 1980;Gortmarker et al, 1987;Harlan et al, 1988;Malina, 1990;Must et al, 1991;Wang et al, 1994;Wolfe et al, 1994). In some studies a stronger increase in weight than in stature was observed.…”

Secular trends in growth and body proportion among children and adolescents from 1985 to 2005 in Shandong, China

“…Socioeconomic living conditions, control of infectious diseases through mass immunization, social and health care (preventive and curative), sanitary conditions, minimum income, level of education, industrialization, and urbanization, as well as psychological state, appear also to be significant factors contributing to secular trends by removing factors that had blocked full expression of biological potential (Van Wieringen, 1986;Malina et al, 1987;Tanner, 1992;Hauspie et al, 1996;Bodzsar and Susanne, 1998;Castilho and Lahr, 2001;Whitehead, 2003).…”